Genetic Variations in Sweet Taste Receptor Gene Are Related to Chocolate Powder and Dietary Fiber Intake in Obese Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Childhood obesity is a major public health problem. It has a direct impact on the quality of life of children and adolescents, as well as on their future risk of developing chronic diseases. Dietary patterns rich in fats and sugars and lacking dietary fibers, vitamins, and minerals, as well as lack of physical exercise have been associated with the rise of obesity prevalence. However, factors that contribute to the preference for foods rich in these nutrients are not well established. Taste is recognized as an important predictor of food choices, and polymorphisms in taste-related genes may explain the variability of taste preference and food intake. The aim of this research is to evaluate the influence of polymorphisms of the sweet taste receptor gene TAS1R2 on diet and metabolic profile in obese children and adolescents. A cross-sectional study with 513 obese children and adolescents and 135 normal-weight children was carried out. A molecular study was performed for the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs9701796 and rs35874116 of TAS1R2, and dietary intake, anthropometric parameters (weight, height, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio (WHtR)), and metabolic profile (including fasting glucose, insulin, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)–cholesterol, and leptin levels) were analyzed. The variant rs9701796 was associated with increased waist-height ratio, as well as with a higher chocolate powder intake in obese children. The variant rs35874116 was associated with a lower dietary fiber intake. In conclusion, there was no relationship between genotypes and risk of obesity. Obese adolescents carrying the serine allele of SNP rs9701796 in TAS1R2 showed higher waist-to-height ratio and chocolate powder intake, whereas those carrying the valine allele of SNP rs35874116 in TAS1R2 were characterized by lower dietary fiber intake.

The Relationship between Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Taste Receptor Genes, Taste Function and Dietary Intake in Preschool-Aged Children and Adults in the Guelph Family Health Study

“…In an analysis of SNPs together with taste and diet, it was found that the rs9701796 SNP in the sweet taste receptor gene TAS1R2 was both associated with sweet taste preference and percent energy from added sugar in the children. In a previous study in children and adolescents, rs9701796 was associated with increased waist-height ratio as well as with a higher chocolate powder intake in obese children [ 14 ]. In another study of children aged 7–12, rs9701796 was not associated with dental caries, a marker often related to excessive sweet food consumption [ 50 ].…”

“…The relationship between genetic variation and taste has previously been investigated by examining single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with outcomes of sensory tests. In particular, studies have focused on the link between taste receptor gene SNPs and measures of taste sensitivity, taste preference, and dietary intake [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. However, previous studies typically analyze very few SNPs and only measure sensitivity, preference or dietary intake related to one type of taste.…”

Impact of Taste on Food Choices in Adolescence—Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Taste perception was assessed in all 13 papers: 5 papers conducted taste phenotype measures [40][41][42]47,52], 3 papers conducted taste genotype measures [45,50,51], and 5 papers measures both phenotype and genotype [43,44,46,48,49].…”

“…Five papers studied the sweet-taste phenotype: 4 used sucrose [42][43][44]46], one used fructose solution and blueberry fruit [47], and 2 papers explored genotype for sweet-taste relating to genes TAS1R2 (rs9701796; rs35874116) [51]; TAS1R3 (rs35744813); and GNAT3 (rs7792845) [46]. The fat-taste gene, CD36, (rs1761667) was studied in one paper [50], while no studies reported on umami and sour tastes as seen in Table S1 in the Supplementary Materials.…”

Physical Activity, Sensory Threshold of Sweetness, and Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR) in Adolescents

“…It is undoubtedly influenced by habits that affect the sensitivity of specific tastes (30). Someone who likes and often consumes sweet foods tends to have a high threshold of sweet taste (31,32), besides the condition of obesity can also affect the sensitivity of taste because there is a direct relationship between the expression of genetic variations in the taste sense and changes in the sense of taste to the sharpness in detecting taste (33)(34)(35). Given the prevalence of obesity continues to increase, especially among adolescents, this research needs to be done to determine the relationship of physical activity and sensory threshold of sweetness with the ratio of waist to height in adolescents.…”