Taste Impairment in Periodontitis：Observational and in Vivo Evidence

Objectives: To explore the impact of periodontitis on patient taste perception and reveal the differential gene-expression response to periodontitis in taste buds associated with periodontitis.
Methods: The first study to investigate the connection between periodontitis and taste impairment had 180 participants, 90 of whom had a diagnosis of chronic periodontitis (ChP). The three-drop and taste-strips methods were used to measure taste sensitivity for sweet, sour, salty, and bitter stimuli. In order to assess taste sensitivity, the ligature-induced periodontitis model was created. Rat tongue circumvallate papillae (CVP) were extracted, and mRNA sequencing was used to identify the genes that were differentially expressed. Both qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to identify the location and expression of the genes.
Results: ChP and taste dysfunction were strongly associated. In the three-drop method, taste dysfunction was observed in 58.9% individuals with ChP and 54.4% in the taste-strip method. The odds ratios (OR) for the three-drop method were 11.46 (95% confidence interval, [CI] =5.45-26.23; P<0.05), and for the taste-strips method, they were 10.76 (95% CI=5.01-25.40; P0.05). Significant correlation between the two taste test methodologies' results was found (Rtotal = 0.80). In contrast to healthy individuals, CVP with periodontitis had 21 up-expressed and 74 down-expressed genes, with ACTC1, CACNG1, and MYL3 showing considerably lower levels of expression. Periodontitis was responsible for the reduced aversion to taste in vivo. The CREB5/EGR1 pathway was highly enriched in the elevated calcium-mediated signal.
Conclusions: ChP could be viewed as a separate risk factor for taste impairment. In rats with periodontitis, the CREB5/EGR1 pathway, which is calcium ion-mediated, is substantially expressed in CVP.