Skip to main content
Advertisement

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current Issue
    • Fast Forward
    • Latest Articles
    • Special Sections
    • Archive
  • Information
    • Instructions to Authors
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • FAQs
    • For Subscribers
    • Terms & Conditions of Use
    • Permissions
  • Editorial Board
  • Alerts
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
  • Virtual Issues
  • Feedback
  • Submit
  • Other Publications
    • Drug Metabolism and Disposition
    • Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
    • Molecular Pharmacology
    • Pharmacological Reviews
    • Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
    • ASPET

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
  • Other Publications
    • Drug Metabolism and Disposition
    • Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
    • Molecular Pharmacology
    • Pharmacological Reviews
    • Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
    • ASPET
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current Issue
    • Fast Forward
    • Latest Articles
    • Special Sections
    • Archive
  • Information
    • Instructions to Authors
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • FAQs
    • For Subscribers
    • Terms & Conditions of Use
    • Permissions
  • Editorial Board
  • Alerts
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
  • Virtual Issues
  • Feedback
  • Submit
  • Visit jpet on Facebook
  • Follow jpet on Twitter
  • Follow jpet on LinkedIn
OtherBehavioral Pharmacology

Rapid throughput concentration-response analysis of human taste discrimination

R. Kyle Palmer, Mariah M Stewart and John Talley
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics January 19, 2021, JPET-AR-2020-000373; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1124/jpet.120.000373
R. Kyle Palmer
1Opertech Bio, Inc., United States of America
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: kpalmer@opertechbio.com
Mariah M Stewart
2Research and Development, Opertech Bio, Inc., United States of America
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
John Talley
2Research and Development, Opertech Bio, Inc., United States of America
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF + SI
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Human taste threshold measurements often are used to infer tastant receptor functionality. However, taste thresholds can be influenced by receptor-independent variables. Examination of the full range of taste-active contractions by taste discrimination has been hampered by logistics of testing multiple concentrations in replicate with human subjects. We developed an automated rapid throughput operant methodology for taste discrimination and applied it to concentration-response analysis of human taste. Tastant solutions (200 µl) drawn from a 96-well plate and self-administered to the tongue served as discriminative stimuli for money-reinforced responses on a touch-sensitive display. Robust concentration-response functions for "basic taste" stimuli were established, with particular focus on agonists of the TAS1R2/R3 receptor. With a training cue of 100 mM sucrose, EC50s of 56 µM, 79 µM, 310 µM, and 40 mM were obtained for rebaudioside A, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, and sucrose, respectively. Changing the sucrose training cue to 300 mM had no impact but changing to 30 mM resulted in slight leftward shifts in potencies. A signal detection method also was used to determine values of d', a probabilistic value for discriminability, which indicated that 5 mM was near the limits of detection for sucrose. With repeated testing, both EC50s and 5 mM sucrose d' values were established for each individual subject. The results showed little correspondence between threshold sensitivities and EC50 values for sucrose. We conclude that concentration-response analysis of taste discrimination provides a more reliable means of inferring receptor function than measurement of discriminability at the lowest detectable tastant concentrations.

Significance Statement Many inferences about human tastant receptor functionality have been made from taste threshold measurements, which can be influenced by variables unrelated to receptors. We herein report a new methodology that enables rigorous concentration-response analysis of human taste discrimination, and its use toward quantitative characterization of tastant agonist activity. Our data suggest that taste discrimination concentration-response functions are a more reliable reflection of underlying receptor activity than threshold measures obtained at the lowest detectable tastant concentrations.

  • behavior
  • behavioral pharmacology
  • Taste receptors
  • © 2020 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
Next
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics: 384 (2)
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Vol. 384, Issue 2
1 Feb 2023
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Editorial Board (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Rapid throughput concentration-response analysis of human taste discrimination
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
OtherBehavioral Pharmacology

Concentration-response analysis human taste discrimination

R. Kyle Palmer, Mariah M Stewart and John Talley
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics January 19, 2021, JPET-AR-2020-000373; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1124/jpet.120.000373

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
OtherBehavioral Pharmacology

Concentration-response analysis human taste discrimination

R. Kyle Palmer, Mariah M Stewart and John Talley
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics January 19, 2021, JPET-AR-2020-000373; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1124/jpet.120.000373
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF + SI
  • PDF

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

  • Role of residues S426 and S430 in cannabinoid tolerance
  • DAT ligands on Cocaine-Food Choice in Monkeys
  • MDPV high-responders to evaluate candidate medications
Show more Article

Similar Articles

Advertisement
  • Home
  • Alerts
Facebook   Twitter   LinkedIn   RSS

Navigate

  • Current Issue
  • Fast Forward by date
  • Fast Forward by section
  • Latest Articles
  • Archive
  • Search for Articles
  • Feedback
  • ASPET

More Information

  • About JPET
  • Editorial Board
  • Instructions to Authors
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Customized Alerts
  • RSS Feeds
  • Subscriptions
  • Permissions
  • Terms & Conditions of Use

ASPET's Other Journals

  • Drug Metabolism and Disposition
  • Molecular Pharmacology
  • Pharmacological Reviews
  • Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
ISSN 1521-0103 (Online)

Copyright © 2023 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics