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Chem. Percept. (2013) 6:101107
DOI 10.1007/s12078-013-9144-1
Is Taste Altered in Patients with ALS?
Cathy A. Pelletier & Elias Abou-Zeid &
Linda M. Bartoshuk & Stacy A. Rudnicki
Received: 18 June 2012 /Accepted: 9 May 2013 /Published online: 22 May 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a degenerative neurological disease that affects the motor systems in patients but also may affect some sensory systems. Some ALS patients report taste changes that may decrease their oral intake and nutritional status. This study examined whether focal taste damage occurs in ALS patients compared to age/gender-matched adult healthy controls. An abbreviated Spatial Taste Test was administered to the fungiform and circumvallate papillae. Compared to healthy controls, ALS patients exhibited significantly lower taste intensities across the four basic tastes and significantly lower taste intensities at both the fungiform and vallate papillae, but no significant difference in whole mouth taste intensities. Seven out of nine ALS patients with self reported altered taste had tongue fasciculations, involuntary movements within the tongue dorsum due to lower motor neuron impairment (a common sign of bulbar ALS). Additionally, for patients taking riluzole taste perception at the fungiform papillae appears to be further reduced relative to the vallate papillae. This study suggests ALS decreases taste at both the fungiform and vallate papillae. In addition,
riluzole may further damage the chorda tympani. Further
studies need to be conducted to examine the etiology for
taste loss.
Keywords Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis . Bulbar . Gustation . Motor neuron disease . Nutrition
Introduction
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a degenerative progressive disease that affects primarily the motor nervous system in individuals, but involvement outside of the motor system also occurs. There are reported changes in the cognitive (Strong et al. 1999), autonomic (Provinciali et al. 1994), and extrapyramidal systems (McCluskey et al. 2009). Chemosensory changes in ALS have also been ob-served. There is evidence of decreased olfactory perception in ALS patients compared to age/gender-matched controls (Elian 1991; Hawkes et al. 1998), although this was not observed in a recent study conducted by Lang et al. (2011). If olfactory loss does occur, it is certainly not as great as observed in other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers or Parkinsons (Hawkes 2006). Hawkes et...