Sweet Taste Preference: Relationships with Other Tastes, Liking for Sugary Foods and Exploratory Genome-Wide Association Analysis in Subjects with Metabolic Syndrome

Taste perception and its association with nutrition and related diseases (type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular, etc.) are emerging fields of biomedicine. There is currently great interest in investigating the environmental and genetic factors that influence sweet taste and sugary food preferences for personalized nutrition. Our aims were: (1) to carry out an integrated analysis of the influence of sweet taste preference (both in isolation and in the context of other tastes) on the preference for sugary foods and its modulation by type 2 diabetes status; (2) as well as to explore new genetic factors associated with sweet taste preference. We studied 425 elderly white European subjects with metabolic syndrome and analyzed taste preference, taste perception, sugary-foods liking, biochemical and genetic markers. We found that type 2 diabetic subjects (38%) have a small, but statistically higher preference for sweet taste (p = 0.021) than non-diabetic subjects. No statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) in preferences for the other tastes (bitter, salty, sour or umami) were detected. For taste perception, type 2 diabetic subjects have a slightly lower perception of all tastes (p = 0.026 for the combined “total taste score”), bitter taste being statistically lower (p = 0.023). We also carried out a principal component analysis (PCA), to identify latent variables related to preferences for the five tastes. We identified two factors with eigenvalues >1. Factor 2 was the one with the highest correlation with sweet taste preference. Sweet taste preference was strongly associated with a liking for sugary foods. In the exploratory SNP-based genome-wide association study (GWAS), we identified some SNPs associated with sweet taste preference, both at the suggestive and at the genome-wide level, especially a lead SNP in the PTPRN2 (Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Receptor Type N2) gene, whose minor allele was associated with a lower sweet taste preference. The PTPRN2 gene was also a top-ranked gene obtained in the gene-based exploratory GWAS analysis. In conclusion, sweet taste preference was strongly associated with sugary food liking in this population. Our exploratory GWAS identified an interesting candidate gene related with sweet taste preference, but more studies in other populations are required for personalized nutrition.

Download Full-text

Taste Perception and Sweet Taste Preference in Type-2 Diabetic Subjects: Genomic And Metabolomic Factors Involved

Metabolism ◽

10.1016/j.metabol.2020.154641 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 116 ◽

pp. 154641

Author(s):

Rebeca Fernandez-Carrion ◽

Ignacio M. Gimenez-Alba ◽

Jose V. Sorli ◽

Eva C. Pascual ◽

Carolina Ortega-Azorin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Taste Preference ◽

Sweet Taste ◽

Taste Perception ◽

Type 2 Diabetic

Download Full-text

Genetic factors in the etiology of type 2 diabetes: linkage analyses, candidate gene association, and genome-wide association and #8211; still a long way to go!

National Journal of Physiology Pharmacy and Pharmacology ◽

10.5455/njppp.2013.3.57-68 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 57 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Deepak parchwani ◽

SMS Murthy ◽

Amit Upadhyah ◽

Digisha Patel

Keyword(s):

Type 2 Diabetes ◽

Candidate Gene ◽

Genetic Factors ◽

Genome Wide Association ◽

Gene Association ◽

Linkage Analyses ◽

Candidate Gene Association ◽

Genome Wide

Download Full-text

P4470Identification of four genes as novel susceptibility loci for early-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, or hyperuricemia in Japanese

European Heart Journal ◽

10.1093/eurheartj/ehz745.0867 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 40 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Y Yamase ◽

H Horibe ◽

K Kato ◽

M Oguri ◽

T Fujimaki ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Diabetes Mellitus ◽

Metabolic Syndrome ◽

Genetic Variants ◽

Early Onset ◽

Association Studies ◽

Genome Wide Association ◽

Genome Wide Association Studies ◽

Susceptibility Loci ◽

Genome Wide

Abstract Background Given that early-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), metabolic syndrome, and hyperuricemia have been shown to have strong genetic components, statistical power of a genetic association study may be increased by focusing on early-onset subjects with these conditions. Although genome-wide association studies have identified various genes and loci significantly associated with T2DM, metabolic syndrome, and hyperuricemia, genetic variants that contribute to predisposition to these conditions in Japanese individuals remain to be identified definitively. Purpose The purpose of the study was to identify genetic variants that confer susceptibility to early-onset T2DM, metabolic syndrome, or hyperuricemia in Japanese. We have now performed exome-wide association studies (EWASs) for early-onset subjects with T2DM, metabolic syndrome, or hyperuricemia and corresponding controls. Methods A total of 8102 individuals aged ≤65 years was enrolled in the study. The EWAS for T2DM was performed with 7407 subjects (1696 cases, 5711 controls), that for metabolic syndrome with 4215 subjects (2296 cases, 1919 controls), and that for hyperuricemia with 7919 subjects (1365 cases, 6554 controls). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped with Illumina Human Exome-12 DNA Analysis BeadChip or Infinium Exome-24 BeadChip arrays. The relation of allele frequencies for 31,210, 31,521, or 31,142 SNPs that passed quality control to T2DM, metabolic syndrome, or hyperuricemia, respectively, was examined with Fisher's exact test. To compensate for multiple comparisons of genotypes with T2DM, metabolic syndrome, or hyperuricemia, we applied Bonferroni's correction for statistical significance of association. Results The EWAS of allele frequencies revealed that four, six, or nine SNPs were significantly associated with T2DM (P<1.60 × 10–6), metabolic syndrome (P<1.59 × 10–6), or hyperuricemia (P<1.61 × 10–6), respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis with adjustment for age and sex revealed that three, six, or nine SNPs were significantly related to T2DM (P<0.0031), metabolic syndrome (P<0.0021), or hyperuricemia (P<0.0014). After examination of the association of identified SNPs to T2DM-, metabolic syndrome-, or hyperuricemia-related traits, linkage disequilibrium of the SNPs, and results of previous genome-wide association studies, we have newly identified ZNF860 and OR4F6 as susceptibility loci for T2DM, OR52E4 and OR4F6 for metabolic syndrome, and HERPUD2 for hyperuricemia. Conclusion Given that OR4F6 was significantly associated with both T2DM and metabolic syndrome, we thus newly identified four genes (ZNF860, OR4F6, OR52E4, HERPUD2) that confer susceptibility to early-onset T2DM, metabolic syndrome, or hyperuricemia. Determination of genotypes for the SNPs in these genes may prove informative for assessment of the genetic risk for T2DM, metabolic syndrome, or hyperuricemia in Japanese.

Download Full-text

A Genome-wide Association Study on Confection Consumption in a Japanese Population- The Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort study

British Journal Of Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s0007114521000684 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-37

Author(s):

Taro Suzuki ◽

Yasuyuki Nakamura ◽

Yukio Doi ◽

Akira Narita ◽

Atsushi Shimizu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Association Study ◽

Japanese Population ◽

Alcohol Intake ◽

Genome Wide Association Study ◽

Sweet Taste ◽

Taste Perception ◽

Genome Wide Association ◽

Genome Wide ◽

A Genome

Abstract Differences in individual eating habits may be influenced by genetic factors, in addition to cultural, social, or environmental factors. Previous studies suggested that genetic variants within sweet taste receptor genes family were associated with sweet taste perception and the intake of sweet foods. The aim of this study was to conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to find genetic variations that affect confection consumption in a Japanese population. We analyzed GWAS data on sweets consumption using 14,073 participants from the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort study. We used a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire to estimate food intake that was validated previously. Association of the imputed variants with sweets consumption was performed by linear regression analysis with adjustments for age, sex, total energy intake and principal component analysis components 1 to 3. Furthermore, the analysis was repeated adjusting for alcohol intake (g/day) in addition to the above-described variables. We found 418 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in 12q24 that were associated with sweets consumption. SNPs with the 10 lowest P-values were located on nine genes including at the BRAP, ACAD10, and ALDH2 regions on 12q24.12-13. After adjustment for alcohol intake, no variant was associated with sweets intake with genome-wide significance. In conclusion, we found a significant number of SNPs located on 12q24 genes that were associated with sweets intake before adjustment for alcohol intake. However, all of them lost statistical significance after adjustment for alcohol intake.

Download Full-text