Sfogliando per Autore ""_""
  • Pubblicazione
    A “Population-based Approach” To Study The Impact Of PROP Perception On Food Liking In Populations Along The Silk Road
    ("-", 2013)
    ROBINO, ANTONIETTA
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    PIRASTU, Nicola
    ;
    MEZZAVILLA, MASSIMO
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    Tepper B. J.
    ;
    GASPARINI, PAOLO
    Responsiveness to certain bitter tasting compounds, such us PROP (6-n-propylthiouracil), is a variable trait both within and between human populations. Genetic variations in the TAS2R38 taste gene accounts for a major portion of phenotypic variation in PROP taste sensitivity. PROP-related differences have been also shown to influence food preferences and dietary behaviour, but this relation is extremely complex and findings are not always uniform. In this study we first examined the link between taste responses to PROP and self-reported food preferences in six different populations of the Caucasus and Central Asia, located along the ancient Silk Road. In addition, we performed a candidate gene study aimed to identify if other genes of the TAS2R family contribute to the PROP phenotype, in association with TAS2R38. We found a strong relationship between PROP tasting and food preferences (Mantel test r=0.67, p-value=0.009) using a “population-based approach”, in which we exploit phenotypic differences between populations comparing a distance matrix based on PROP taste responses and a matrix based on food preferences. No evidence of correlation was found between the distance matrix of food preferences and the matrix of genetic distance based on TAS2R38. Preliminary results of candidate gene analysis allow us to identify other TAS2R genes that could cooperate with TAS2R38 in the modulation of PROP perception and as consequence also food liking. Our results suggest that PROP status is probably a marker for general taste sensitivity and as such is a major driver of food preferences. The “population-based approach” proved to be a good method to clarify the controversial relation between PROP perception and food liking and could possibly be applied to other traits as well. In addition, our work represents a starting point to study the involvement of multiple genes in PROP perception and food liking.
      2
  • Pubblicazione
    A “population-based approach” to study the link between TAS2R genes, taste perception and food liking.
    ("_", 2013)
    ROBINO, ANTONIETTA
    ;
    MEZZAVILLA, MASSIMO
    ;
    PIRASTU, Nicola
    ;
    B. Tepper
    ;
    GASPARINI, PAOLO
    Variations at the TAS2R38 gene account for the major portion of differences in PROP (6-n-propylthiouracil) taste perception, which have been shown to influence food preferences and dietary behaviour. We examined the link between PROP taste responses, food preferences and TAS2R genes in six different populations of the Caucasus and Central Asia, located along the Silk Road. We reported, for the first time, genotypic frequencies of the TAS2R38 gene and PROP phenotype distribution in these populations. We found a strong relationship between PROP tasting and food preferences (r=0.67, p-value=0.009) using a “population-based approach”, in which we exploit phenotypic differences between populations comparing a distance matrix based on PROP taste responses and a matrix based on food preferences. No evidence of correlation was found between the distance matrix of food preference and the matrix of genetic distance based on TAS2R38 or the matrix based on the whole genome. Preliminary results of candidate gene analysis allowed us to identify others TAS2R genes that could cooperate with TAS2R38 in the modulation of PROP perception and as consequence food liking. Besides increasing the knowledge of worldwide TAS2R38 prevalences and bitter taste, our results show that differences in food preferences among populations correlate with PROP status but not with the TAS2R38 gene, suggesting that PROP status is probably a marker for general taste sensitivity and as such is a major driver of food preferences. In addition, our work represent a starting point to study the involvement of multiple genes in bitter perception and food liking.
      2
  • Pubblicazione
    The Meaning of Food Preferences in the Human Behaviour and Personalities.
    ("_", 2012)
    CARLINO, DAVIDE
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    ROBINO, ANTONIETTA
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    PIRASTU, Nicola
    ;
    De Vanna M.
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    GASPARINI, PAOLO
    Learned predisposition to choice in a favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given food is a complex and plastic trait resulting from interactions between both nutritional properties of food and individual chemosensory perception, this last modulated by personality properties and interoceptive awareness (alexithymia). We report data obtained by a total of ~700 individuals (aged 18-76) coming from 6 different small villages in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in northern Italy. Participants completed a food preferences questionnaire on 66 different foods, rating their liking of each item on a 9 point scale ranging from “extremely like” to “extremely dislike”. Standardized questionnaires were also administered to characterize subjects on selected personality traits (Temperament and Character Inventory – TCI) and alexithymia (Toronto Alexithymia Scale – TAS-20). We conducted a linear regression between the mean of all food preferences and neuropsychological traits, using sex and age as covariates. The mean of food preferences was associated negatively with TAS total score (p=7.5e-05) and externally oriented cognitive style (subitem 3 of TAS-20) (p=2.0e-07), and was positively associated with self-transcendence total score (ST) (p=5.9e-04) and spiritual acceptance (ST3) (p=6.5e-04) among TCI dimensions. We conclude that food preferences are modulated by the enduring tendency to transcend contingent sensorimotor representations (ST) on the one hand, by difficulty distinguishing between feelings and the bodily sensations of emotional arousal, and concrete thinking, often with the exclusion of emotional responses to stimuli of the other. These results can provide insight to a clearer understanding of the motivations of consumers and their effects to choice diets.
  • Pubblicazione
    The Role Of Personality Traits On Taste Perception and Food Preferences.
    ("_", 2013)
    ROBINO, ANTONIETTA
    ;
    CARLINO, DAVIDE
    ;
    PIRASTU, Nicola
    ;
    De Vanna M.
    ;
    Tepper B. J.
    ;
    GASPARINI, PAOLO
    The relationship between individual differences in taste perception and personality dimensions has not been thoroughly examined. The genetically determined sensitivity to certain bitter tastes, such as PROP and PTC, is one of the most studied individual differences in humans. It is in part explained from genotypic variation of TAS2R38 gene, but others factors including personal characteristics could be involved. Our study aimed to analyse the possible relationship between personality traits, PROP bitterness and food preferences. We report data obtained from a total of ~700 healthy individuals (aged 18-76) coming from 6 different small villages in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in northern Italy. PROP taste phenotype was determined using a method previously described (Zhao et al, 2003). Individuals completed also a food preferences questionnaire on different foods, rating their liking of each item on a 9-point scale ranging from “like extremely” to “dislike extremely”. Standardized questionnaires were administered to characterize subjects on selected personality traits (Temperament and Character Inventory – TCI) and alexithymia (Toronto Alexithymia Scale – TAS-20), a personality construct characterized by an impaired ability to identify, differentiate and describe feelings and to distinguish between feelings and bodily sensations of emotional arousal. Regression analysis detected an association between PROP intensity and alexithymia (TAS Total score), such that high alexithymic individuals showed a reduced PROP responsiveness (p-value=0.0147). Furthermore, these same subjects exhibited a statistically significant lower preference for specific foods, including broccoli, red radish, artichokes, black olives, fava beans. Our results suggest that bitter taste perception and food preferences could be modulated by difficulty in distinguishing and describing feelings and emotional responses to stimuli that characterized the alexithymic personality. This study can also provide insight to a clearer understanding of the motivations of consumers and their effects to choice diets.