Sweet taste preference: Relationships with other tastes, liking for sugary foods and exploratory genome-wide association analysis in subjects with metabolic syndrome

Authors: FERNANDEZ-CARRION, REBECA - University Of Valencia; SORLI, JOSE - University Of Valencia; COLTELL, OSCAR - Instituto De Salud Carlos Iii; PASCUAL, EVA - University Of Valencia; ORTEGA-AZORIN, CAROLINA - University Of Valencia; BARRAGAN, ROCIO - University Of Valencia; GIMENEZ-ALBA, IGNACIO - University Of Valencia; ALVAREZ-SALA, ANDREA - University Of Valencia; FITO, MONTSERRAT - Instituto De Salud Carlos Iii; ORDOVAS, JOSE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; CORELLA, DOLORES - University Of Valencia

Submitted to: Biomedicines
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/29/2021
Publication Date: 12/31/2021
Citation: Fernandez-Carrion, R., Sorli, J.V., Coltell, O., Pascual, E.C., Ortega-Azorin, C., Barragan, R., Gimenez-Alba, I., Alvarez-Sala, A., Fito, M., Ordovas, J., Corella, D. 2021. Sweet taste preference: Relationships with other tastes, liking for sugary foods and exploratory genome-wide association analysis in subjects with metabolic syndrome. Biomedicines. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines10010079.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines10010079

Interpretive Summary: Taste perception has been associated with habitual dietary intake and age-related diseases. Specifically, there is a great interest in investigating how sweet taste and sugary food preferences are related to genetic and environmental factors. To better understand this matter, investigators at the HNRCA in Boston, in collaboration with Spanish investigators, carried out research to examine the influence of sweet taste preference on the preference for sugary foods and its modulation by type 2 diabetes status. Moreover, the genetic factors associated with sweet taste preference were investigated. We found that type 2 diabetic subjects have a significantly higher preference for sweet taste than non-diabetic subjects. Moreover, we identified a novel genetic association between a gene called PTPRN2 (Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Receptor Type N2) and sweet taste preference. These exciting findings need replication in other populations.

Technical Abstract: 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.