Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access originally published online on December 13, 2004
Alcohol and Alcoholism 2005 40(2):106-111; doi:10.1093/alcalc/agh129
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Alcohol & Alcoholism Vol. 40, No. 2 © Medical Council on Alcohol 2005; all rights reserved
TASTE RESPONSES TO MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE AFTER ALCOHOL EXPOSURE
1 Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, 2 Department of Psychiatry Nursing, The Ludwik Rydygier Medical University, Bydgoszcz, 3 Department of Prevention and Treatment of Addictions, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw and 4 Department of Otolaryngology, Warsaw Medical Academy, Warsaw, Poland
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Sobieskiego 9 St., PL-02957 Warsaw, Poland. Tel.: +48 22 32 13 376; Fax: +48 22 84 27 644; E-mail: scinska{at}yahoo.com
(Received 26 August 2004; first review notified 1 September 2004; in revised form 21 October 2004; accepted 8 November 2004)
Aims: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of acute and chronic exposure to alcohol on taste responses to a prototypic umami substance, monosodium glutamate (MSG). Methods: The rated intensity and pleasantness of MSG taste (0.0310.0%) was compared in chronic male alcoholics (n = 35) and control subjects (n = 25). In a separate experiment, the effects of acute exposure of the oral mucosa to ethanol rinse (0.54.0%) on MSG taste (0.33.0%) were studied in 10 social drinkers. Results: The alcoholic and control group did not differ in terms of the rated intensity and pleasantness of MSG taste. Electrogustometric thresholds were significantly (P < 0.01) higher, i.e. worse, in the alcohol-dependent subjects. The difference remained significant after controlling for between-group differences in cigarette smoking and coffee drinking. Rinsing with ethanol did not alter either intensity or pleasantness of MSG taste in social drinkers. Conclusions: The present results suggest that: (i) neither acute nor chronic alcohol exposure modifies taste responses to MSG; (ii) alcohol dependence may be associated with deficit in threshold taste reactivity, as assessed by electrogustometry.
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