Oral irritation in patients with chemosensory dysfunction

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Introduction: Evidence accumulates to support the interaction among gustatory, olfactory and trigeminal sensations. While olfactory dysfunction is associated with impaired taste or intranasal trigeminal perception, less is known about the perception of oral irritative intensity among patients with olfactory or gustatory dysfunctions. Method: 148 patients with olfactory and/or gustatory dysfunctions received oral administration of chili powder samples with varied irritation levels, and rated the oral irritation intensity on an 11-point scale. Gustatory sensitivity was assessed using the ‘Taste Strips’ test among a subset of the patients (N = 25). Other variables including the aetiology of disease and a frequency of spicy food consumption were also recorded for exploratory analyses. Results: Participants with anosmia rated oral irritations of chili powder significantly less than participants with normosmia. In the subsample, a positive correlation was observed between the individual scores of the ‘Taste Strips’ test and ratings of oral irritation intensity at the highest level of chili powder test. There were no effects of age, aetiology, subjective ratings of sensitivity to spicy food or frequency of spicy food consumption with respect to oral irritation intensity of chili powder samples. Conclusion: The current results showed reduced oral irritation intensity among patients with severe olfactory loss. Impaired oral irritative perception among these participants may be related to disturbed central nervous interactions between the various sensory systems involved in flavour perception.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)490-496
Number of pages7
JournalFlavour and fragrance journal
Volume36
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0001-9713-0183/work/146645508
ORCID /0000-0003-1311-8000/work/158767548

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • chili powder, flavour perception, olfactory loss, oral irritation intensity