Paul Breslin, PhD, senior author and professor of nutritional sciences at Rutgers University, and colleagues set out to determine whether the human sweet taste receptor found in taste bud cells, also known as TAS1R2-TAS1R3, may also play a role in influencing glucose metabolism. Their results were published in PLOS ONE.
The team observed that when activating and inhibiting this receptor, glucose, insulin, and glucagon found in the plasma changed before, during, and after oral glucose tolerance tests. For this reason, the sweet taste receptor may have value as part of “metabolic surveillance” since this receptor is also found in the intestine where it may influence glucose, facilitating its absorption and assimilation.
According to Dr. Breslin, “Our objective was to determine whether TAS1R2-TAS1R3 influences glucose metabolism in two directions,” adding, “The novelty of our findings is that the receptor we studied in this experiment impacts blood glucose and insulin during a glucose meal differently, depending on whether it is stimulated or inhibited.”
The research team assessed each individual participant’s sweet taste responses to sucralose and their sweet taste inhibition to lactisole. They observed elevated plasma insulin responses to the oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) when sucralose was added to glucose (P = .056). In addition, sucralose sweetness ratings were associated with early increases in both plasma glucose and plasma insulin (P <.05) when sucralose was added to the OGTT (15-minute area under the curve [AUC]). Conversely, lactisole sweetness inhibition was correlated with decreased plasma glucose (P <.01) when it was added to the OGTT during the entire test (120-minute AUC).
“When glucose stimulates taste receptors before being absorbed into the body, signals are sent via the mouth and intestine to regulatory organs such as the pancreas. Perhaps, we could devise ways of using TAS1R2-TAS1R3 to help the body handle glucose better by anticipating when glucose will appear in the blood,” said Dr. Breslin, who elaborated further, “This system is elegant in its simplicity.”
“Studies like these—using Monell’s technical capability and deep expertise in the chemical senses—show that the sweet taste receptor TAS1R2-TAS1R3 helps to regulate glucose differently, depending on the sweetness of the food or beverage,” said Dr. Breslin, concluding, “A small metabolic change for the positive can add a lot more to the life and health of humans when compounded over decades and millions of people.”
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