Sweet Taste Perception is Associated with Body Mass Index at the Phenotypic and Genotypic Level. (5th August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hwang, Liang-Dar; Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel; Ong, Jue-Sheng; Breslin, Paul A. S.; Reed, Danielle R.; MacGregor, Stuart; Gharahkhani, Puya; Martin, Nicholas G.; Rentería, Miguel E.
• Is Part Of: Twin research and human genetics. Volume 19:Number 5(2016)
• Page Start: 465
• Page End: 471
• Publication Date: 2016-08-05
• Subjects: taste perception, -- BMI, -- sweetness, -- longitudinal analysis, -- genetic risk, -- twin study; Twins -- Periodicals; Multiple birth -- Periodicals; 618.25
• DOI: 10.1017/thg.2016.60
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1832-4274

Abstract

Abstract : Investigations on the relationship between sweet taste perception and body mass index (BMI) have been inconclusive. Here, we report a longitudinal analysis using a genetically informative sample of 1, 576 adolescent Australian twins to explore the relationship between BMI and sweet taste. First, we estimated the phenotypic correlations between perception scores for four different sweet compounds (glucose, fructose, neohesperidine dihydrochalcone (NHDC), and aspartame) and BMI. Then, we computed the association between adolescent taste perception and BMI in early adulthood (reported 9 years later). Finally, we used twin modeling and polygenic risk prediction analysis to investigate the genetic overlap between BMI and sweet taste perception. Our findings revealed that BMI in early adulthood was significantly associated with each of the sweet perception scores, with the strongest correlation observed in aspartame with r = 0.09 ( p = .007). However, only limited evidence of association was observed between sweet taste perception and BMI that was measured at the same time (in adolescence), with the strongest evidence of association observed for glucose with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.06 ( p = .029) and for aspartame with r = 0.06 ( p = .035). We found a significant ( p < .05) genetic correlation between glucose and NHDC perception and BMI. Our analyses suggest that sweet taste perception in adolescence can be a potential indicator of BMI in early adulthood. This association is further supported by evidence of genetic overlap between the traits, suggesting that some BMI genes may be acting through biological pathways of taste perception.