title: Taste sensitivity to phenylthiocarbamide in non-goitrous and goitrous Nigerians.
abstract: Taste sensitivity to phenylthiocarbamide is thought to reflect a genotype homozygous for a single recessive gene. European and North American populations show a mean non-taster frequency of about 30% whereas Mongoloid populations show a much lower frequency of non-tasters. In the present study of Nigerians, there were mean non-taster frequencies of 1.9-2.9% among healthy subjects and not a significantly different level, 3.5%, among goitrous ones. Among subjects with nodular goiter, however, the non-taster frequency was 18.7%, significantly higher. The results suggest that there is a rarity of non-tasters among Nigerians and that non-tasters are more susceptible to the development of nodular goiter than are tasters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, A.B.U., Zaria.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Etta
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Watson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000370:Ageusia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006044:Goiter, Nodular / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria; D010670:Phenylthiourea; D013649:Taste
chemical_list: D010670:Phenylthiourea