A review of the associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms in taste receptors, eating behaviors, and health

Abstract

Food preferences and dietary habits are heavily influenced by taste perception. There is growing interest in characterizing taste preferences based on genetic variation. Genetic differences in the ability to perceive key tastes may impact eating behavior and nutritional intake. Therefore, increased understanding of taste biology and genetics may lead to new personalized strategies, which may prevent or influence the trajectory of chronic disease risk. Recent advances show that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CD36 fat taste receptor are linked to differences in fat perception, fat preference, and chronic-disease biomarkers. Genetic variation in the sweet taste receptor T1R2 has been shown to alter sweet taste preferences, eating behaviors, and risk of dental caries. Polymorphisms in the bitter taste receptor T2R38 have been shown to influence taste for brassica vegetables. Individuals that intensely taste the bitterness of brassica vegetables ("supertasters") may avoid vegetable consumption and compensate by increasing their consumption of sweet and fatty foods, which may increase risk for chronic disease. Emerging evidence also suggests that the role of genetics in taste perception may be more impactful in children due to the lack of cultural influence compared to adults. This review examines the current knowledge of SNPs in taste receptors associated with fat, sweet, bitter, umami, and salt taste modalities and their contributions to food preferences, and chronic disease. Overall, these SNPs demonstrate the potential to influence food preferences and consequently health.

Genetic Background of Taste Perception, Taste Preferences, and Its Nutritional Implications: A Systematic Review

“…To our knowledge-after a few narrative reviews (Kim et al, 2004;Garcia-Bailo et al, 2008;Grimm and Steinle, 2011;Dotson et al, 2012;Hayes et al, 2013;Keller and Adise, 2016;Chamoun et al, 2018) that provided a comprehensive, critical, and objective analyses of the scientific knowledge regarding the genetic implications of food preference at the time of their publications-this is the first systematic review prepared by following the PRISMA guideline and using all the most relevant research databases to explore associations between genetic polymorphisms and taste preferences. Food preferences are shaped during fetal development and eating behavior evolves over time.…”

The taste of toxicity: A quantitative analysis of bitter and toxic molecules

“…TAS2Rs were suggested as novel targets for asthma and potential off‐targets of existing drugs . The genetic variability of TAS2Rs and their relation to health and disease may have impact on personalized medicine and nutrition in the near future .…”

Studies of human twins reveal genetic variation that affects dietary fat perception

“…The results of the candidate gene analyses were more compelling in the sense that, although none of the results were individually very striking, multiple methods of analysis have repeatedly indicated a role for CD36 and TRPM5 in the perception of dietary fat, in both human and animal studies (Chamoun et al 2018), especially gene knockout studies. Parenthetically, we did not see associations with the proxy marker we used to try to replicate the previous studies exactly (Keller et al 2012; Mrizak et al 2015; Pepino et al 2012; Sayed et al 2015), but CD36 is a large gene with many potentially functional variants, and therefore a fine-mapping study in multiple populations is warranted.…”