Salty, sour taste perception reduced in PCOS
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Taste sensation, particularly taste for salty and sour, is reduced among women with polycystic ovary syndrome compared with healthy controls, with the differences persisting after short-term oral contraceptive use, data show.
“Taste sensation has considerable implications on eating behaviors that have been shown to differ in patients with PCOS compared to healthy women,” Bulent Yildiz, MD, professor of endocrinology and metabolism at Hacettepe University School of Medicine in Ankara, Turkey, and colleagues wrote in the study background. “Some studies comparing men and women also demonstrated significant differences in both taste sensation and eating behaviors. The differences in androgen levels are one of the most distinct features between two sexes, and changes in sex hormones have been linked to significant alterations in taste sensitivity and food preferences by several animal studies. Accordingly, androgen excess, a key feature of PCOS, might potentially influence taste in women.”
Yildiz and colleagues assessed taste function and eating behavior among 44 women with PCOS and 36 age- and BMI-matched healthy controls. Gustatory function was assessed via taste strips for sweet, sour, salty, bitter tastes, with higher scores indicating higher taste sensation, and via the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait, Night Eating Questionnaire and Three Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18. Researchers repeated all measurements for participants who received an oral contraceptive along with general lifestyle advice for 3 months.
The findings were published in Appetite.
At baseline, women with PCOS had lower total taste strip test scores compared with controls (mean, 11.7 vs. 13.1; P = .001). In subgroup analyses, researchers observed lower sour and salty taste scores among women with PCOS vs. controls (mean, 2.4 vs. 2.9; P = .004; and 2.6 vs. 3.1; P = .01). Sweet and bitter taste scores were similar. There were no between-group differences in eating behavior.
In linear regression analysis, hyperandrogenism was a significant predictor for total taste strip test score (R2 = 0.22; P < .001). Higher free androgen index was associated with lower total taste strip test score (P = .01). Among women with PCOS who received oral contraceptives, scores for total taste strip test, Night Eating Questionnaire and Three Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18 remained unchanged; however, scores from the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait showed significant reduction (P = .02), mainly due to a decrease in lack of control subscale (P = .01).
“The main finding of the study, as expected, was reduced overall sense of taste associated with androgen excess and indicating a higher taste detection threshold in women with PCOS,” Yildiz told Healio. “However, it was surprising that the decrease in taste sensation was mainly for sour and salty, but not sweet, considering that patients with PCOS usually report food cravings especially toward carbohydrates in the clinic. Our results did not show any difference for sweet taste perception, food cravings or other components of eating behavior between PCOS patients and healthy women.”
Yildiz said the findings suggest androgen excess was able to explain only 22% of the variation in taste perception, whereas amelioration of hyperandrogenism with oral contraceptive use was not accompanied by an improvement in taste detection thresholds, suggesting unmeasured factors might be involved in taste dysfunction of PCOS.
“Alternatively, taste dysfunction could be an intrinsic feature of PCOS,” Yildiz said. “Further studies are required to clarify potential mechanisms of taste dysfunction in PCOS.”
For more information:
Bulent Yildiz, MD, can be reached at byildiz@hacettepe.edu.tr; Twitter: @obulentyildiz.
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