title: Relationship between gustatory function and average number of taste buds per fungiform papilla measured by confocal laser scanning microscopy in humans.
abstract: The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between the gustatory function and average number of taste buds per fungiform papilla (FP) in humans. Systemically healthy volunteers (n = 211), pre-operative patients with chronic otitis media (n = 79), and postoperative patients, with or without a chorda tympani nerve (CTN) severed during middle ear surgery (n = 63), were included. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was employed to observe fungiform taste buds because it allows many FP to be observed non-invasively in a short period of time. Taste buds in an average of 10 FP in the midlateral region of the tongue were counted. In total, 3,849 FP were observed in 353 subjects. The gustatory function was measured by electrogustometry (EGM). An inverse relationship was found between the gustatory function and average number of fungiform taste buds per papilla. The healthy volunteers showed a lower EGM threshold (better gustatory function) and had more taste buds than did the patients with otitis media, and the patients with otitis media showed a lower EGM threshold and had more taste buds than did postoperative patients, reflecting the severity of damage to the CTN. It was concluded that the confocal laser scanning microscope is a very useful tool for using to observe a large number of taste buds non-invasively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan.|Research and Education Program for Life Science, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan.
authors.forename: Takehisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Research and Education Program for Life Science, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan.|Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsufumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan.
authors.forename: Yumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Manabe
authors.affiliation: Division of Dentistry and Oral Surgery, Department of Sensory and Locomotor Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002814:Chorda Tympani Nerve / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008875:Middle Aged; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000601:surgery; D013650:Taste Buds / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D014059:Tongue / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
keywords: confocal laser scanning microscopy; electrogustometry; fungiform papilla; taste bud