title: A potential trigger for pine mouth: a case of a homozygous phenylthiocarbamide taster.
abstract: Pine mouth, also known as pine nut syndrome, is an uncommon dysgeusia that generally begins 12 to 48 hours after consuming pine nuts. It is characterized by a bitter metallic taste, usually amplified by the consumption of other foods, which lasts 2 to 4 weeks. Recent findings have correlated this disorder with the consumption of nuts of the species Pinus armandii, but no potential triggers or common underlying medical causes have been identified in individuals affected by this syndrome. We report a 23-year-old patient affected by pine mouth who also underwent a phenylthiocarbamide taste test and was found to be a taster for this compound. TAS2R38 genotyping demonstrated that this subject was a homozygous carrier of the proline-alanine-valine taster haplotype. We, therefore, hypothesize that homozygous phenylthiocarbamide taster status may be a potential contributor for pine mouth events. Although based on a single observation, this research suggests a connection between genetically determined bitter taste perception and the occurrence of pine nut dysgeusia events.
authors.affiliation: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892; Department of BiGeA, Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology and Centre for Genome Biology, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: davide.risso@nih.gov.
authors.forename: Davide S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Risso
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors.forename: Louisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.affiliation: Clinical Genomics Unit and Tumor Biology Section, Head and Neck Surgery Branch, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors.forename: Carter
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: VanWaes
authors.affiliation: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Drayna
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004408:Dysgeusia / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006720:Homozygote; D006801:Humans; D009754:Nuts; D010670:Phenylthiourea; D028223:Pinus; D013577:Syndrome; D013649:Taste; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010670:Phenylthiourea
keywords: Dysgeusia; PTC; Pine nuts; TAS2R38; Taste disturbance