Clinical trial NCT03548038: Taste Changes With Bariatric Surgery
Official title: Taste Changes With Bariatric Surgery
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Taste, Altered
Keywords: taste perception
bariatric surgery
taste preference
weight loss surgery
Lead sponsor: University of Missouri-Columbia
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2018-06-06
Enrollment: 21
Sex: FEMALE
Minimum age (years): 21
Maximum age (years): 70
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Women aged 21-70 will be recruited from the University of Missouri Bariatric Surgery Clinic.

Brief summary: It is commonly believed that a link exists between BMI and taste perception. One group of researchers observed that women who are obese experience reduced taste sensitivity when compared to normal-weight controls. Others have compared taste sensitivity between lean and obese subjects and found no significant differences. The inconsistencies in these studies demonstrate how much variation in taste sensitivity is possible when different factors are applied in research. Throughout several studies, one element remains constant - bariatric surgery causes appetite aversions. These changes in appetite and food preference likely have a large influence on the overall magnitude of post-surgical weight loss. Although many studies have investigated the changes in taste preference after bariatric surgery, few, if any, have focused on changes in sweet taste perception.

Detailed description: The overall goal of the present project is to determine how future bariatric surgery will affect the taste for sweet liquids. Taste perception will be assessed before surgery (pre-operative, pre-op) and after bariatric surgery, at approximately 1 month. Taste studies will be conducted with solutions prepared freshly before each test using sucrose dissolved in distilled water. Six concentrations of sucrose (table sugar) will be tasted in random order, with the most concentrated solution being roughly the sweetness of soda. The subject is blinded to the concentrations. It is hypothesized that there will be no significant difference in taste perception when pre-op and post-op values are compared. However, the investigators hypothesize that taste preference will identify solutions with lower concentrations post-op.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Women who plan to undergo bariatric surgery.
* Age: 21-70y.
* Non-smokers (at least 3 months post smoking cessation).
* Non-diabetic or prediabetic

Exclusion Criteria:

* Subject on a medication known to affect taste perception: Antibiotics, thyroid medications, psychotropic, neurological, and cardiac medications.
* Inability to understand the test instructions.
* Subject has already undergone bariatric surgery

Primary outcomes:
measure: Taste Perception on an Interval Scale
timeFrame: Change from baseline to one month after bariatric surgery
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Columbia
country: United States
facility: Elizabeth Parks
state: Missouri
city: Columbia
country: United States
facility: University of Missouri
state: Missouri
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Missouri-Columbia
name: Elizabeth J Parks, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Bueter M, Miras AD, Chichger H, Fenske W, Ghatei MA, Bloom SR, Unwin RJ, Lutz TA, Spector AC, le Roux CW. Alterations of sucrose preference after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Physiol Behav. 2011 Oct 24;104(5):709-21. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.07.025. Epub 2011 Jul 30.
citation: Scruggs DM, Buffington C, Cowan GS Jr. Taste Acuity of the Morbidly Obese before and after Gastric Bypass Surgery. Obes Surg. 1994 Feb;4(1):24-28. doi: 10.1381/096089294765558854.
citation: Pepino MY, Finkbeiner S, Beauchamp GK, Mennella JA. Obese women have lower monosodium glutamate taste sensitivity and prefer higher concentrations than do normal-weight women. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 May;18(5):959-65. doi: 10.1038/oby.2009.493. Epub 2010 Jan 14.