Fatty Acid Taste Thresholds: Caproic, Lauric, Oleic, Linoleic, Linolenic

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Differences in human oral sensitivity for caproic, lauric, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids will be explored. Prior work indicates that there may be a learning effect in measuring detection thresholds for free fatty acids. This study is designed to determine the number of visits necessary to attenuate this learning effect and also to test whether this effect continues across different types of fatty acids or is specific to each fatty acid. This will aid in understanding how many visits are required to obtain reliable data and if less expensive fatty acids can be used to attenuate learning before testing thresholds for more expensive fatty acids.

Official Title
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Fatty Acid Taste Thresholds: Caproic, Lauric, Oleic, Linoleic, Linolenic

Conditions
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Taste Sensitivity, Fatty Acid Type

Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: 18-60 years of age in good health available for 3 months Exclusion Criteria: Participation in a different fat taste study in previous 6 months

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 60 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Oral sensitivity to oleic, lauric, linoleic, linolenic and caproic acids measured by the ascending 3 alternative forced choice test as described in American Society and Testing and Methods E679 | Thresholds for taste of each fatty acid will be determined using the 3 alternative forced choice test. Participants will taste 3 samples, one of which contains a fatty acid, and select which sample they believe is different. The concentration of fatty acid used will range from very dilute to a maximum of 5%. The test is repeated over the range of concentrations until a participant is able to correctly identify the fatty acid or until the maximum concentration is reached. | Measured at weekly intervals over 3 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| DNA sequence of potential fatty acid receptors (e.g., CD36, GPR120, GPR48) | Saliva will be collected to analyze any correlations between fatty acid receptor genes and sensitivity. | This will be collected at the final visit of the study, approximate 2-3 months from participant enrollment depending on how frequently the participant is able to come to the lab | 
| Amount of habitual dietary fat intake | A survey will be administered to determine each participant's habitual dietary fat intake | Baseline | 
| Measurement of hunger | Participants will rate how hungry they are on a line scale because commencing each study threshold test | This will be measured at every study visit (21 visits plus 1 screening visit) over the 2-3 months of the study | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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taste, non-esterified fatty acids, threshold, sensitivity, human