Pharmacological significance of extra-oral taste receptors

[helvella]

Every so often, I see a paper which seems odd enough to be interesting despite having no obvious application, at least not in the foreseeable future!

Eur J Pharmacol. 2021 Sep 5;174480.

doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2021.174480. Online ahead of print.

Pharmacological significance of extra-oral taste receptors

Ottavio D'Urso 1 , Filippo Drago 2

Affiliations

• PMID: 34496302

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2021.174480

Abstract

It has recently been shown that taste receptors, in addition to being present in the oral cavity, exist in various extra-oral organs and tissues such as the thyroid, lungs, skin, stomach, intestines, and pancreas. Although their physiological function is not yet fully understood, it appears that they can help regulate the body's homeostasis and provide an additional defense function against pathogens. Since the vast majority of drugs are bitter, the greatest pharmacological interest is in the bitter taste receptors. In this review, we describe how bitter taste 2 receptors (TAS2Rs) induce bronchodilation and mucociliary clearance in the airways, muscle relaxation in various tissues, inhibition of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in thyrocytes, and release of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and ghrelin in the digestive system. In fact, substances such as dextromethorphan, chloroquine, methimazole and probably glimepiride, being agonists of TAS2Rs, lead to these effects. TAS2Rs and taste 1 receptors (TAS1R2/3) are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR). TAS1R2/3 are responsible for sweet taste perception and may induce GLP-1 release and insulin secretion. Umami taste receptors, belonging to the same superfamily of receptors, perform a similar function with regard to insulin. The sour and salty taste receptors work in a similar way, both being channel receptors sensitive to amiloride. Finally, gene-protein coupled receptor 40 (GPR40) and GPR120 for fatty taste perception are also protein-coupled receptors and may induce GLP-1 secretion and insulin release, similar to those of other receptors belonging to the same superfamily.

Keywords: Bitter; Extra-oral taste; Sweet; TAS1R2/3; TAS2R.

At present this is all that is available - and even when published it will probably be behind a paywall:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/344...

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

Replying to stop post appearing unanswered.

[MichelleHarris]

I remember doing a taste test at school with Litmus paper and one in four could taste this vile taste of which I was one. I find my Hydroxychloroquine medication extremely unpalatable and my sister tastes nothing unpleasant at all x

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to MichelleHarris]

Ironically, one substance often mentioned in that regard is propylthiouracil - the anti-thyroid medicine!

You could have a look here if interested:

6-n-Propylthiouracil: a genetic marker for taste, with implications for food preference and dietary habits

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/979...