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CompletedNCT01023906Updated May 23, 2014

Taste Perception and Chronic Disease Risk

An observational study in Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes and Obesity, sponsored by Tufts University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 85 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2014-05-23.

Sponsored by Tufts University · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Cross-sectional
Enrollment
90
Ages
18 Years to 85 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

The purpose of the Taste Perception Study is to assess variations in the ability to taste and perceive sensations from various stimuli in younger (18-49 years) and older (50-85 years) volunteers. The study's goal is to determine how these sensations influence what one likes to eat, and what one chooses to eat, and whether there is an association with dietary intake, body composition and chronic disease. Another objective of the study is to determine the association between variations in oral sensations and genes mediating sensory perception and dietary behaviours.

Read the detailed description

The objective of the Taste Perception Study is to assess variations in oral sensations in younger (18-49 years; n=35) relative to older (50-85 years; n=35) subjects, and determine the association between variations in oral sensations and measures of chronic disease risk factors, body composition, habitual dietary intake and selected genes mediating sensory perception and dietary behaviors. Subjects who are participating in the Glycemic Index study (IRB #7196) will be asked for voluntarily participation in the proposed study. These volunteers will undergo 1-2 hours of standardized testing. These tests will involve tasting or smelling certain foods/beverages or ingredients in foods/beverages and rating the degree of liking/disliking, intensity and flavor or odor using a validated general Labeled magnitude scale. Volunteers will also be asked to complete a food preference survey and eating inventory questionnaire, as well as provide a DNA sample from a cheek swab or blood sample. These data will then be merged with the measures of chronic disease risk factors, body composition and habitual dietary intake data generated from the Glycemic index study in order to better understand if variations in oral sensations influence food preferences and patterns and subsequently chronic disease risk.

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Conditions studied

  • Cardiovascular Disease
  • Diabetes
  • Obesity
  • Metabolic Syndrome
  • Aging

Keywords

  • Taste
  • general Labeled Magnitude Scale
  • Aging
  • Chronic Disease Risk
  • Smell
03

In context

Cardiovascular Diseases

4,902 studies on the registry are indexed under Cardiovascular Diseases; 920 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 90 is below the median of 573 across 1,483 observational studies indexed under Cardiovascular Diseases.

Browse Cardiovascular Diseases studies →

Lead sponsor

Tufts University is the lead sponsor of 225 studies on the registry; 24 are open to participants now.

Of its 10 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 7 (70%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 85 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Community Sample

Inclusion criteria

  • men and women;
  • aged 18 to 85 years old;
  • free of known chronic disease;
  • BMI \< 35 kg/ m2.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria:

  • BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2;
  • renal or liver disease;
  • untreated hypertension;
  • irritable bowel syndrome;
  • malabsorptive, esophageal and gastrointestinal motility disorders;
  • chronic pancreatitis, or history of acute pancreatitis within the last year;
  • hypothyroidism or hypothyroidism, as defined as screening TSH outside of normal ranges;
  • anemia, as defined by screening hematocrit of 34% for women and 38% for men;
  • smoking within the past 6 months;
  • diabetes;
  • fasting glucose ≥ 125 mg/dL;
  • pregnancy or breastfeeding;
  • history of polycystic ovary syndrome;
  • history of autoimmune or other connective tissue disorders associated with chronic inflammation, such as rheumatoid arthritis; alcohol consumption > 7 drinks/ week;
  • use of medications known to affect glucose or lipid metabolism;
  • established CVD (myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, coronary artery bypass, graft, stenosis > 50%, peripheral arterial disease);
  • unwillingness to adhere to study protocol;
  • weight gain or loss of more than 15 lbs within 6 months prior to enrollment and other abnormal screening laboratory analysis results.
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Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Cross-sectional
Enrollment
90 participants (actual)
Biospecimen retention
Samples with dna

Groups and cohorts

  • 18-49 years

    Younger

  • 50-85 years

    Older

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Sensory/hedonic rating

    Time frame: 1 - 2 hours

Secondary outcomes

  1. Genetic Variation

    Time frame: 1- 2 hours

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Study locations

1 site
  • Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University
    Boston, Massachusetts 02111, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Vega-Lopez S, Ausman LM, Griffith JL, Lichtenstein AH. Interindividual variability and intra-individual reproducibility of glycemic index values for commercial white bread. Diabetes Care. 2007 Jun;30(6):1412-7. doi: 10.2337/dc06-1598. Epub 2007 Mar 23. PubMed 17384339 ↗
  • He W, Sengupta M, Velkoff VA, DeBarros KA. U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, 65+ in the United States: 2005. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC. 2005: 23-209.
  • Duffy VB, Chapo AK. Smell, Taste, and Somatosensation in the Elderly. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2006: 115-153.
  • Seiberling KA, Conley DB. Aging and olfactory and taste function. Otolaryngol Clin North Am. 2004 Dec;37(6):1209-28, vii. doi: 10.1016/j.otc.2004.06.006. PubMed 15563911 ↗
  • Dinehart ME, Hayes JE, Bartoshuk LM, Lanier SL, Duffy VB. Bitter taste markers explain variability in vegetable sweetness, bitterness, and intake. Physiol Behav. 2006 Feb 28;87(2):304-13. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2005.10.018. Epub 2005 Dec 20. PubMed 16368118 ↗
  • Bartoshuk LM, Duffy VB, Hayes JE, Moskowitz HR, Snyder DJ. Psychophysics of sweet and fat perception in obesity: problems, solutions and new perspectives. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2006 Jul 29;361(1471):1137-48. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2006.1853. PubMed 16815797 ↗
  • Drewnowski A. Taste preferences and food intake. Annu Rev Nutr. 1997;17:237-53. doi: 10.1146/annurev.nutr.17.1.237. PubMed 9240927 ↗
  • Lanier SA, Hayes JE, Duffy VB. Sweet and bitter tastes of alcoholic beverages mediate alcohol intake in of-age undergraduates. Physiol Behav. 2005 Jan 17;83(5):821-31. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2004.10.004. Epub 2004 Nov 21. PubMed 15639168 ↗
  • Goldstein GL, Daun H, Tepper BJ. Adiposity in middle-aged women is associated with genetic taste blindness to 6-n-propylthiouracil. Obes Res. 2005 Jun;13(6):1017-23. doi: 10.1038/oby.2005.119. PubMed 15976144 ↗
  • Duffy VB. Associations between oral sensation, dietary behaviors and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Appetite. 2004 Aug;43(1):5-9. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2004.02.007. PubMed 15262011 ↗
  • Rolls BJ. Do chemosensory changes influence food intake in the elderly? Physiol Behav. 1999 Apr;66(2):193-7. doi: 10.1016/s0031-9384(98)00264-9. PubMed 10336143 ↗
  • Bartoshuk LM, Duffy VB, Miller IJ. PTC/PROP tasting: anatomy, psychophysics, and sex effects. Physiol Behav. 1994 Dec;56(6):1165-71. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(94)90361-1. Erratum In: Physiol Behav 1995 Jul;58(1):203. PubMed 7878086 ↗
  • Bartoshuk LM, Duffy VB, Fast K, Green BG, Prutkin K, Snyder DJ. Labeled scales (e.g. category, Likert, VAS) and across-group comparisons: what we have learned from genetic variation in taste. Food Quality and Preference 2003; 14: 125-138.
  • Green BG, Dalton P, Cowart B, Shaffer G, Rankin K, Higgins J. Evaluating the 'Labeled Magnitude Scale' for measuring sensations of taste and smell. Chem Senses. 1996 Jun;21(3):323-34. doi: 10.1093/chemse/21.3.323. PubMed 8670711 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 23, 2014, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01023906
Lead sponsor
Tufts University
Collaborators
University of Connecticut
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Dec 2, 2009
Start date
Jul 2008
Primary completion
Mar 2010
Completion
Mar 2010
Last update
May 23, 2014

Study contacts

Nirupa R Matthan, Ph.D.
principal investigator · HNRCA at Tufts University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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