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Taste Testing in a Pediatric Case of Congenital Aglossia
Author(s) -
Valent Franziska,
Wang Long,
McMicken Betty,
Rock Cheryl
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.lb219
Subject(s) - umami , taste , monosodium glutamate , bitter taste , citric acid , food science , chemistry , medicine , zoology , biology
Background Congenital aglossia (CA) is a rare inborn condition characterized by the complete absence of the tongue. This study aimed to determine gustatory function in a pediatric female subject with CA. The study was built on previous research on taste discrimination of a 44‐year‐old female subject with isolated congenital aglossia (ICA) and anecdotal reports of individuals with CA possessing the ability to discern taste stimuli. Methods In this randomized, double‐blinded, controlled trial, a total of 78 samples were presented to an 11‐year‐old female subject with CA in the presence of her parents. Triplicate samples of sucrose (sweet), citric acid (sour), sodium chloride (salty), caffeine (bitter), and monosodium glutamate (umami) solutions at five concentration levels each were tested, in addition to three water samples. Stimuli solution concentrations ranged from 0.5 M to 5.0×10 −4 M for sweet, 3.2×10 −4 M to 2.0×10 −5 M for sour, 0.1 M to 1.0×10 −3 M for salty, 1.0×10 −3 M to 1.0×10 −5 M for bitter, and 1.0×10 −2 M to 1.0×10 −4 M for umami. Data was analyzed using SPSS 22. The recorded responses were used to develop contingency tables and descriptive statistics were run to determine percentage of accurate stimuli identification and frequency of substitutions. Correct identification was set at a threshold value of ≥66.6% accuracy (two out of three). Cross‐tabulations of taste identification accuracy versus actual taste, stimuli concentration, and presentation order were developed and tested for statistically significant association (p≤0.05) using chi‐square testing. Results Out of the five stimuli, sour and umami were correctly identified by the participant. Umami was accurately identified 100% of the time at 5.0×10 −3 M and sour 66.66% of the time at 1.6×10 −4 M. Correct identification threshold criteria were not met for sweet, salty, and bitter samples at any concentration. Statistically significant association could not be determined between taste identification accuracy and particular taste [X 2 (5)=7.674, p=.175], individual stimuli concentration levels (sweet p=.645; sour p=.558; salty p=.484; umami p=.061), or presentation order [X 2 (5)=55.000, p=.437]. The most commonly recorded substitution was bitter as sour (n=5), followed by bitter as salty (n=4). Conclusion This study supports previous findings indicating that sour is one of the stimuli that may be accurately identified by a person with CA, though at a lower threshold than previously found in the ICA trial or in persons without CA. This study also indicated accurate taste discrimination of umami stimuli, a new finding compared to the previous trial. As with sour, umami identification occurred at a lower threshold than found in persons without CA. These lower discrimination thresholds, as well as the misidentification of the sweet, salty, and bitter stimuli, may indicate possible gustatory dysfunction among individuals with CA compared to persons born with a tongue.