Background: Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammatory lymphocytic infiltration of the salivary glands, leading to dryness of the mouth (xerostomia). It has been postulated that xerostomia is the preceding stage for the development of alterations in taste acuity (dysgeusia) in this type of patients. Objectives: To determine detection and recognition thresholds to the 4 basic tastes (sweet, salty, sour and bitter) in pSS patients and compare them to a control group. To determine if the long-term consumption of chile peppers and spicy Mexican diets had an effect on the taste perception and acuity of the pSS patients. Interventions: Detection and recognition thresholds were determined by the method of least noticeable differences on three occasions during three nonconsecutive days. Saliva production was determined by Saxon's test on two separate occasions. Results: Although saliva production was severely reduced in pSS patients (1.3570.55 ml/2 min, Po0.001) compared to controls (6.2672.41 ml/2 min), all subjects recognized the 4 basic tastes when these were tested at suprathreshold concentrations. The detection thresholds for the sweet, sour and bitter tastes were higher in pSS patients, as well as the recognition thresholds for the salty, sour and bitter tastes. A relationship between time of evolution of the disease and saliva production with individual thresholds could not be established. Conclusions: pSS patients exhibited different degrees of dysgeusia depending on the taste being studied, that is, they were mildly dysgeusic for the sweet and salty tastes and clearly dysgeusic for the sour and bitter tastes. Although both pSS patients and controls had consumed 'typical Mexican diets' their entire lives, our results showed that the consumption of chile peppers and spicy foods did not have any effect on the taste perception and acuity of the pSS patients.

No abstract

BackgroundOropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) is common among older adults. Some studies have evaluated the efficacy of a texture‐modified diet on mortality but with short‐term follow‐up. We aimed to evaluate the effect of a texture‐modified diet and controlled bolus volume on all‐cause mortality after 12 months in older persons with OD.MethodsThis secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial included patients aged ≥60 years with a diagnosis of OD. They were concurrently and randomly assigned to receive either a texture‐modified food diet and controlled bolus volume (intervention group) or standard treatment (control group) with 12 months of follow‐up. Secondary outcomes were oral intake, weight, handgrip strength, phase angle, and aspiration pneumonia. Kaplan‐Meier analysis and the Cox proportional hazards model were used for mortality analysis.ResultsA total of 127 participants (intervention group: 64 and control group: 63) were recruited, with a mean age of 76 years. The probability of all‐cause mortality was significantly lower in the intervention group (n = 8, 12%) than in the control group (n = 18, 29%) (hazard ratio = 0.36 [95% CI = 0.16–0.86]; P = 0.01). There were 5 (7.9%) and 10 (16.1%) aspiration pneumonia events in the intervention and control groups, respectively (not significant) in 12 months of follow‐up. Changes were observed in protein consumption (P = 0.01), body weight (P = 0.04), body mass index (P = 0.004), handgrip strength (P = 0.02), and phase angle (P = 0.04) between the treatment groups.ConclusionCompared with the standard treatment, the dietary intervention improved efficacy by limiting nutrition complications, aspiration pneumonia, and all‐cause mortality.