title: Taste dysfunction in multiple sclerosis.
abstract: Empirical studies of taste function in multiple sclerosis (MS) are rare. Moreover, a detailed assessment of whether quantitative measures of taste function correlate with the punctate and patchy myelin-related lesions found throughout the CNS of MS patients has not been made. We administered a 96-trial test of sweet (sucrose), sour (citric acid), bitter (caffeine) and salty (NaCl) taste perception to the left and right anterior (CN VII) and posterior (CN IX) tongue regions of 73 MS patients and 73 matched controls. The number and volume of lesions were assessed using quantitative MRI in 52 brain regions of 63 of the MS patients. Taste identification scores were significantly lower in the MS patients for sucrose (p = 0.0002), citric acid (p = 0.0001), caffeine (p = 0.0372) and NaCl (p = 0.0004) and were present in both anterior and posterior tongue regions. The percent of MS patients with identification scores falling below the 5th percentile of controls was 15.07 % for caffeine, 21.9 % for citric acid, 24.66 % for sucrose, and 31.50 % for NaCl. Such scores were inversely correlated with lesion volumes in the temporal, medial frontal, and superior frontal lobes, and with the number of lesions in the left and right superior frontal lobes, right anterior cingulate gyrus, and left parietal operculum. Regardless of the subject group, women outperformed men on the taste measures. These findings indicate that a sizable number of MS patients exhibit taste deficits that are associated with MS-related lesions throughout the brain.
authors.affiliation: Smell and Taste Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 5 Ravdin Building, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4823, USA. richard.doty@uphs.upenn.edu.|Department of Otorhinolarynology: Head and Neck Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA. richard.doty@uphs.upenn.edu.
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8378-2623
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Doty
authors.affiliation: Smell and Taste Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 5 Ravdin Building, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4823, USA.|Department of Otorhinolarynology: Head and Neck Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Isabelle A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Tourbier
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, Henry Jackson Foundation, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Dzung L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Pham
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, 21287, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Cuzzocreo
authors.affiliation: Medical Imaging Section, Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvlania, Philadelphia, 19104, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Jayaram K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Udupa
authors.affiliation: Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, İzmir Institute of Technology, Urla, Izmir, 35430, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bilge
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Karacali
authors.affiliation: Smell and Taste Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 5 Ravdin Building, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4823, USA.|Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 48824, East Lansing, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Evan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Beals
authors.affiliation: Smell and Taste Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 5 Ravdin Building, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4823, USA.|Department of Otorhinolarynology: Head and Neck Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fabius
authors.affiliation: Smell and Taste Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 5 Ravdin Building, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4823, USA.|Department of Otorhinolarynology: Head and Neck Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Fidias E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Leon-Sarmiento
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Gul
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moonis
authors.affiliation: Smell and Taste Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 5 Ravdin Building, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4823, USA.|Department of Otorhinolarynology: Head and Neck Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Taehoon
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Smell and Taste Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 5 Ravdin Building, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4823, USA.|Department of Otorhinolarynology: Head and Neck Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mihama
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Rena J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Geckle
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Yousem
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D013651:Taste Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*
keywords: Chemosensory transduction; Magnetic resonance imaging; Multiple sclerosis; Sex differences; Taste; Taste disorders
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