Relationship Between Nasal Trigeminal Receptor Expression and Trigeminal Sensitivity

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Abstract

An intact intranasal trigeminal function is crucial for chemosensory and somatosensory perception, environmental irritation detection, and triggering protective reflexes. Accurately assessing intranasal trigeminal function is thus essential. Since transient receptor potential (TRP) channels' activation mediates this function, their expression levels in the nasal mucosa may serve as potential indicators. The present study examined the relationship between intranasal trigeminal sensitivity, assessed via the lateralization task, and the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of TRP channels using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in healthy individuals. The results indicated that individuals with lower lateralization scores exhibited significantly reduced TRPA1 mRNA expression levels, suggesting that TRPA1 density may influence behavioral responses to trigeminal stimulation. The findings provide promising evidence linking nasal TRPA1 expression to psychophysical measures, supporting the potential of nasal swabs as a simple, non-invasive, biologically objective tool for assessing intranasal trigeminal function.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere70202
Number of pages4
JournalOTO Open : the official open access journal of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation
Volume10
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2026
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0001-9713-0183/work/206634718

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • intranasal trigeminal function, lateralization task, nasal swab, trigeminal function measurement, trigeminal receptor, trigeminal sensitivity