SALIVARY CARBONIC ANHYDRASE VI, ZINC SULFATE TASTE ACUITY AND FREQUENCY OF ILLNESS: A PILOT STUDY
- 1 West Liberty University, United States
- 2 West Virginia University School of Medicine, United States
Abstract
Salivary Carbonic Anhydrase VI (CA6) is a zinc-dependent metalloenzyme which may be important for normal taste function. Though many taste assessment methods exist, the assessment of zinc sulfate taste acuity is a method that has been suggested to have diverse relationships to human health. A double-blinded pilot study was conducted among 21 individuals to analyze the relationships between salivary CA6 concentrations, zinc sulfate taste acuity and self-reported frequency of illness. ELISA was performed to quantify CA6 concentrations, the Bryce-Smith and Simpson "Zinc Taste Test" (BS-ZTT) protocol and a Taste Intensity Visual Analog Scale (TI-VAS) were utilized to assess zinc sulfate taste acuity and a health history questionnaire was used to determine the frequency of illness. A statistically significant correlation existed between CA6 concentration and zinc sulfate taste acuity determined via the BS-ZTT (rs = 0.62; p = 0.03). A moderate statistically significant negative correlation was found between self-reported frequency of illness and BS-ZTT scores (rs = -0.64, p = 0.034). Likewise, a strong statistically significant negative correlation was found between self-reported frequency of illness and TI-VAS scores (rs = -0.81, p = 0.003). The results of this pilot study suggest that zinc sulfate taste acuity may be reflective of salivary CA6 concentration in addition to being a retrospective indicator of illness frequency.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/ajisp.2014.107.113
Copyright: © 2014 Matthew J. Zdilla and Leah D. Starkey. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- 3,875 Views
- 2,650 Downloads
- 1 Citations
Download
Keywords
- Zinc Taste Test
- Gustin
- Ageusia
- Hypogeusia
- Dysgeusia
- Immunity