Sweet Taste Gene Expression And Obesity: Is There A Link? — ASN Events
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  2. Symposium 5B: Cancer and Human Genetics
  3. Sweet Taste Gene Expression And Obesity: Is There A Link?

Sweet Taste Gene Expression And Obesity: Is There A Link? (#85)

Nicholas S Archer 1 , Jan Shaw 1 , Maeva Cochet 1 , Pennie Taylor 2 , Konsta Duesing 1 , Garry Hannan 1 , Conor Delahunty 2 3
  1. CSIRO Animal, Food and Health Sciences, CSIRO, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. CSIRO Animal, Food and Health Sciences, CSIRO, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  3. Current Address: Symrise Asia Pacific, Singapore

Sugar intake has been linked to weight gain and obesity1. The role of taste perception in the development of obesity is currently unclear. As taste is a major factor influencing food preference, we hypothesize that physiological differences in taste perception may play a role in ingestive behaviour, in particular leading to individual differences in the consumption of sugar. To address this hypothesis, we aimed to examine the relationship between sweet taste, the expression of sweet taste genes, and dietary intake in lean and obese individuals.

An observational study recruited lean (n=25) and obese (n=23) participants, collecting a range of anthropometric, dietary and sensory measures, as well as biological samples to assess sweet taste gene expression (oral and blood samples). Taqman gene expression assays were utilised to assess the sweet taste receptors (TAS1R2 and TAS1R3), and associated secondary messenger molecules (GNAT3, PLCĪ²2, TRPM5 and ITPR3).

Obese individuals had reduced expression of the sweet taste receptor TAS1R3 in oral samples and reduced sweet taste sensitivity compared to lean. The reduced sweet taste and TAS1R3 expression in obese was associated with a preference for sweeter foods and increased dietary intake of sugar. Furthermore, reduced TAS1R3 expression in the obese was independent of a promoter variant (rs35744813) previously associated with altered sweet taste2,3. No association was observed between sweet taste or dietary intake and the other sweet taste genes analysed.

This finding supports the hypothesis that differences in taste physiology may exist between lean and obese individuals, influencing ingestive behaviour and the overconsumption of sugar. In a further study it will be important to measure the contribution of dietary exposure to differences in taste receptor expression, to identify whether an obesogenic taste phenotype can be reverse adapted.

  1. Morenga, L.T., Mallard, S. & Mann, J. (2013) Dietary sugars and body weight: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials and cohort studies. BMJ, 346 e7492.
  2. Fushan, A.A., Simons, C.T., Slack, J.P., Manichaikul, A. & Drayna, D. (2009) Allelic Polymorphism within the TAS1R3 Promoter Is Associated with Human Taste Sensitivity to Sucrose. Current Biology, 19 (15): 1288-1293.
  3. Mennella, J.A., Finkbeiner, S. & Reed, D.R. (2012) The proof is in the pudding: children prefer lower fat but higher sugar than do mothers. Int J Obes, 36 (10): 1285-1291.