Taste Solution Preferences of C57BL/6J and 129X1/SvJ Mice: Influence of Age, Sex, and Diet

Abstract

To examine whether age influences taste solution preferences, we measured taste preferences of C57BL/6J and 129X1/SvJ mice given a series of 48-h 2-bottle tests with a choice between water and one of the following taste solutions: 2 mM saccharin, 5 mM citric acid, 30 microM quinine hydrochloride, 75 mM sodium chloride (NaCl), 10 mM inosine monophosphate (IMP), 50 mM calcium chloride (CaCl(2)), and 10% ethanol. We tested separate groups of male mice fed Teklad 8604 chow at ages 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, and 50 weeks and retested some of these mice at 54, 75, and 100 weeks and again at 125 weeks. Female mice fed chow were tested at ages 4, 12, 25, and 50 weeks and retested at 54, 75, 100, and 125 weeks. Male mice fed AIN-93G semisynthetic diet were tested at ages 4, 12, 25, and 50 weeks and retested at 54, 75, and 100 weeks. Concentration-response functions for each taste solution were collected from male and female mice fed chow aged 8 or 125 weeks. In general, the results showed that age had little effect on taste preferences. Exceptions included 1) a small increase in quinine hydrochloride preference between 54 and 125 weeks in mice of both strains and sexes, 2) a marked increase in NaCl preference between 4 and 12 weeks in female B6 mice, 3) a gradual decrease in IMP preference between 4 and 125 weeks in male and female 129 mice, 4) a marked decrease in CaCl(2) preference between 54 and 125 weeks in male and female 129 mice, and 5) a marked reduction in ethanol preference between 4 and 12 weeks in male B6 mice fed AIN-93G diet but not chow. These results show that over a wide range and with the exceptions noted, age contributes little to the variation in taste preferences observed in C57BL/6J and 129X1/SvJ mice.

Preferences of 14 rat strains for 17 taste compounds

“…For example, out of a total of 40 mouse strains, 32 had no sex difference in sodium preference and 29 had no sex difference in calcium preference (82,85,86). Thus, sex differences in taste preferences are the exception rather than the rule in our laboratory.…”

Gene discovery and the genetic basis of calcium consumption

“…To determine if differences in age were likely to influence taste preferences we tested B6 and 129 mice aged between 6 and 125 weeks. We found that, with few exceptions, age made no difference to taste preferences [86].…”

“…In concentrationpreference studies, the additional benefit of multiple tests was sufficient to outweigh the slight advantage of 96-h over 48-h tests. We also compared the taste preferences of mice fed with six different maintenance diets (four forms of cereal-based "chows" and two semisynthetic diets) and found that diet had little concerted effect on the variability of most two-bottle choice tests, although in some cases it had a large influence on strain means [ [94]; see also [86]]. Based largely on the fact that the ingredients of chow diets are unknown and variable, and thus experiments using them cannot be replicated, we decided the best diet for our purposes was AIN-76A [1,32], a semisynthetic diet recommended by the American Institute of Nutrition (now called the American Society for Nutrition).…”

“…The larger the strain difference, the more likely there are to be genes with large effects (or lots of genes with small effects). Unfortunately, the B6 and 129 strains did not differ much in calcium preferences [e.g., [86]]. This does not necessarily negate their use, but it does suggest that other strains might be more suitable.…”

Peripheral Taste System in Inbred Mouse Strains

“…Length, width and area were measured on each taste bud utilizing Image J software. Tests between deionized water and sodium saccharin are used to test for sweet, citric acid solution is used to test for sour, quinine hydrochloride (QHCL) and sucrose octaacetate (SOA) are used to test for bitter, NaCl is used to test salty taste preference, whereas inosine monophosphate (IMP) is used to test umami (Tordoff 2007). In the two bottle preference test, animals are given 48 hours with deionized water and a tastants solution.…”