Betty L McMicken1, Andrew Kunihiro2, Long Wang3, Frederico Salles4, Patrícia Costa Bezerra4, Kelly Rogers5. 1. Associate Professor, California State University, Long Beach, CA, USA. 2. California State University, Long Beach, CA, USA. 3. Assistant Professor, California State University, Long Beach, CA, USA. 4. Universidade de Brasília, Brasilia, DF, Brazil. 5. Saddleback College, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, USA.
Abstract
AIMS: Isolated Congenital Aglossia (ICA) is a rare syndrome where an individual is born without a tongue. A few anecdotal reports have identified taste as a sensation experienced by the person with congenital aglossia (PWCA). To date no systematic investigations have been reported. This study aimed to systematically determine gustatory function in a PWCA. METHODS: The current study utilized a randomized, double-blinded, controlled trial that tested the five basic tastes: sweet (sucrose), sour (acetic acid), salty (sodium chloride), bitter (caffeine), and umami (monosodium glutamate, MSG) in a 44 year old female PWCA. Five concentration levels (three for salty) were tested in triplicate for each stimulus. A nose clip was used to exclude contribution by olfactory detection. Contingency tables were constructed to determine relationships between identification accuracy and stimulus or concentration level. RESULTS: The sweet (17.1 g/L), salty (0.58 g/L), and bitter (0.02 g/L) stimuli were detected at comparable concentrations to those reported in non-randomized trials, while sour (0.02 g/L) was detected at a lower concentration. The most common substitution was salty for umami (n = 7). Identification accuracy was significantly associated with taste stimuli χ (2) = 12.634, p = 0.013. Concentration level was significantly associated with identification accuracy only for salty, χ (2) = 9.000, p = 0.011. CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated the perception of different tastes in a PWCA. This is the first known report of umami being identified as a unique taste in a PWCA. Variations in threshold taste concentrations compared to normal individuals indicate certain gustatory dysfunction.
RCT Entities:
AIMS: Isolated Congenital Aglossia (ICA) is a rare syndrome where an individual is born without a tongue. A few anecdotal reports have identified taste as a sensation experienced by the person with congenital aglossia (PWCA). To date no systematic investigations have been reported. This study aimed to systematically determine gustatory function in a PWCA. METHODS: The current study utilized a randomized, double-blinded, controlled trial that tested the five basic tastes: sweet (sucrose), sour (acetic acid), salty (sodium chloride), bitter (caffeine), and umami (monosodium glutamate, MSG) in a 44 year old female PWCA. Five concentration levels (three for salty) were tested in triplicate for each stimulus. A nose clip was used to exclude contribution by olfactory detection. Contingency tables were constructed to determine relationships between identification accuracy and stimulus or concentration level. RESULTS: The sweet (17.1 g/L), salty (0.58 g/L), and bitter (0.02 g/L) stimuli were detected at comparable concentrations to those reported in non-randomized trials, while sour (0.02 g/L) was detected at a lower concentration. The most common substitution was salty for umami (n = 7). Identification accuracy was significantly associated with taste stimuli χ (2) = 12.634, p = 0.013. Concentration level was significantly associated with identification accuracy only for salty, χ (2) = 9.000, p = 0.011. CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated the perception of different tastes in a PWCA. This is the first known report of umami being identified as a unique taste in a PWCA. Variations in threshold taste concentrations compared to normal individuals indicate certain gustatory dysfunction.