Taste Changes With Bariatric Surgery

University of Missouri (MU)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Taste, Altered

Treatments: Other: taste test

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03548038

2011543

Details and patient eligibility

About

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.

Full 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.

Enrollment: 21 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 21 to 70 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

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

Trial design

21 participants in 1 patient group

Bariatric surgery patients

Description:

All subjects will be patients scheduled for bariatric surgery. There is only one arm in this study.

Treatment:

Other: taste test