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Toll‐like receptor 4 mediates fat, sugar, and umami taste preference and food intake and body weight regulation
Author(s) -
Camandola Simonetta,
Mattson Mark P.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1002/oby.21871
Subject(s) - umami , taste , sugar , tlr4 , tongue , ingestion , immune system , endocrinology , food science , taste receptor , gpr120 , medicine , toll like receptor , receptor , chemistry , biology , innate immune system , immunology , pathology , g protein coupled receptor
Objective Immune and inflammatory pathways play important roles in the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders. This study investigated the role of toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) in orosensory detection of dietary lipids and sugars. Methods Taste preferences of TLR4 knockout (KO) and wild‐type (WT) male mice under a standard and a high‐fat, high‐sugar diet were assessed with two‐bottle tests. Gene expression of taste signaling molecules was analyzed in the tongue epithelium. The role of TLR4 in food intake and weight gain was investigated in TLR4 KO and WT mice fed a high‐fat and high‐sugar diet for 12 weeks. Results Compared to WT mice, TLR4 KO mice showed reduced preference for lipids, sugars, and umami in a two‐bottle preference test. The altered taste perception was associated with decreased levels of key taste regulatory molecules in the tongue epithelium. TLR4 KO mice on a high‐fat and high‐sugar diet consumed less food and drink, resulting in diminished weight gain. Conclusions TLR4 signaling promotes ingestion of sugar and fat by a mechanism involving increased preference for such obesogenic foods.