Abstract Purpose: the study aims to assess the gustatory function of healthy Chinese adults with the whole-mouth test based on five basic tastants, including umami taste. Methods: the study recruited 464 participants reporting a normal sense of smell/taste (227 females and 237 males with an age range of 19-65 years). A drop (approximately 0.1 mL) of liquid tastant was applied on the anterior third of the extended tongue of each subject. The taste solutions involved 5 tastants (sour, sweet, salty, umami, and bitter) and 7 concentrations. Taste perception scores and recognition scores of the five basic tastants were obtained with this whole-mouth taste method. Results: total taste score of recognition showed a significant negative correlation with age. The elder group (51-65 years) had the lowest scores. The 10th percentile of total taste score of recognition in the group of 36 to 50 years was used to distinguish normogeusic subjects from hypogeusic subjects. The perception scores and recognition scores of females were higher than those of males. The perception and recognition scores of salty, umami, and bitter for females were high than those for males. Total taste score of recognition for non-smokers was significantly higher than that of smokers. The whole-mouth method showed a high test-retest reliability with an intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) from 0.774 to 0.833. Conclusion: this whole-mouth method is simple and time-saving and can be easily adjusted to obtain reliable data. The gustatory function was significantly negatively correlated with age. Females were more sensitive to the sour, salty, umami and bitter tastes than males. The gustatory function of non-smokers was more sensitive.

Resumen Propósito: el estudio tiene como objetivo evaluar la función gustativa de adultos chinos sanos con la prueba de boca completa basada en cinco saborizantes básicos, incluido el sabor umami. Métodos: el estudio reclutó a 464 participantes que informaron tener un sentido del olfato/gusto normal (227 mujeres y 237 hombres con un rango de edad de 19 a 65 años). Se aplicó una gota (aproximadamente 0,1 ml) de saborizante líquido en el tercio anterior de la lengua extendida de cada sujeto. Las soluciones de sabor incluyeron 5 saborizantes (ácido, dulce, salado, umami y amargo) y 7 concentraciones. Los puntajes de percepción del gusto y los puntajes de reconocimiento de los cinco saborizantes básicos se obtuvieron con este método de sabor de boca completa. Resultados: la puntuación total de reconocimiento del gusto mostró una correlación negativa significativa con la edad. El grupo de ancianos (51-65 años) tuvo las puntuaciones más bajas. Se utilizó el percentil 10 de la puntuación total de reconocimiento del gusto en el grupo de 36 a 50 años para distinguir a los sujetos normogéusicos de los hipogéusicos. Los puntajes de percepción y los puntajes de reconocimiento de las mujeres fueron más altos que los de los hombres. Los umbrales de percepción y reconocimiento de salado, umami y amargo de las mujeres fueron más bajos que los de los hombres. La puntuación total de reconocimiento del gusto de los no fumadores fue significativamente más alta que la de los fumadores. El método de boca completa mostró una alta fiabilidad test-retest con un coeficiente de correlación intraclase (CCI) de 0,774 a 0,833. Conclusión: este método de boca completa es simple, ahorra tiempo y se puede ajustar fácilmente para obtener datos confiables. La función gustativa se correlacionó significativamente de forma negativa con la edad. Las mujeres fueron más sensibles a los sabores agrio, salado, umami y amargo que los varones. La función gustativa fue más sensible en los no fumadores.

The biological functions of the BC047440 gene highly expressed by hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are unknown. The objective of this study was to reconstruct antisense eukaryotic expression vectors of the gene for inhibiting HepG2 cell proliferation and suppressing their xenograft tumorigenicity. The full-length BC047440 cDNA was cloned from human primary HCC by RT-PCR. BC047440 gene fragments were ligated with pMD18-T simple vectors and subsequent pcDNA3.1(+) plasmids to construct the recombinant antisense eukaryotic vector pcDNA3.1(+)BC047440AS. The endogenous BC047440 mRNA abundance in target gene-transfected, vector-transfected and naive HepG2 cells was semiquantitatively analyzed by RT-PCR and cell proliferation was measured by the MTT assay. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were profiled by flow cytometry. The in vivo xenograft experiment was performed on nude mice to examine the effects of antisense vector on tumorigenicity. BC047440 cDNA fragments were reversely inserted into pcDNA3.1(+) plasmids. The antisense vector significantly reduced the endogenous BC047440 mRNA abundance by 41% in HepG2 cells and inhibited their proliferation in vitro (P < 0.01). More cells were arrested by the antisense vector at the G1 phase in an apoptosis-independent manner (P = 0.014). Additionally, transfection with pcDNA3.1(+)BC047440AS significantly reduced the xenograft tumorigenicity in nude mice. As a novel cell cycle regulator associated with HCC, the BC047440 gene was involved in cell proliferation in vitro and xenograft tumorigenicity in vivo through apoptosis-independent mechanisms.