Psychophysics and Biological bases of taste alterations in radiotherapy patients:

放疗患者味觉改变的心理物理学和生物学基础：

• 批准号: 7455185
• 负责人: Paul A. S Breslin
• 金额: $ 31.54万
• 依托单位: MONELL CHEMICAL SENSES CENTER
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-07-01 至 2009-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7455185
• 关键词: Aftercare; Anorexia; Biological; Biology; Biopsy; Blood Vessels; Body Weight decreased; Cell physiology; Cells; Clinical; Development; Early treatment; Eating; Elements; Epithelial; Epithelium; Event; General Population; Goals; Inflammatory; Interdisciplinary Study; Molecular; Mutation; Natural regeneration; Outcome; Patient Care; Patients; Perception; Physicians; Process; Psychophysics; Quality of life; RNA; Radiation; Radiation therapy; Rare Diseases; Rate; Research; Stem cells; System; TNF gene; Taste Buds; Taste Disorders; Taste Perception; Testing; Therapeutic Intervention; Time; Weight; base; cytokine; experience; food flavor; head and neck cancer patient; improved; insight; irradiation; prognostic; programs

Clinical taste deficits are rare disorders in the general population that occur at a rate well below that of olfactory loss (see Core). The dearth of taste patients renders the study of taste disorders difficult and, consequently, their treatment problematic. Yet, there is one prominent exception to this generalization; over 90% of all head and neck cancer patients who receive radiation therapy (radiotherapy) experience substantial taste loss and alterations of food flavor perception. These changes are major contributors to decreased food intake, anorexia, and weight loss. They also contribute to a significant decrement in general quality of life and an increase in suffering. Neither the full impact of radiotherapy on taste perception, nor the exact bases for gustatory abnormalities associated with it, is known. Radiotherapy may chronically alter the gustatory epithelia via repeated inflammatory insult, subsequent fibrotic and anti-vascular sequellae, and/or by genetic alteration of the epithelial/gustatory regenerative cellular processes. The long-term goals of this muttidisciplinary research program are: (1) to carefully document the magnitude, quality, and course of taste perception changes resulting from radiotherapy; (2) to simultaneously document morphological, histological, and molecular changes in the gustatory system that follow radiotherapy and relate these to observed perceptual changes; (3) to determine whether long-term gustatory deficits and abnormalities are caused by repeated, accumulated inflammatory insult, radiation-induced genetic alteration of reconstructive cells and stem cells, and/or the epithelial sequellae of these events, in order to begin to understand the causes of these abnormalities. This understanding will yield insight into potential therapeutic interventions for patients. It is also anticipated that the results will consummate in the development of patient outcome profiles providing important prognostic information to patients and their physicians and, ultimately, improve patient care and quality of life. Finally, information about how insult from radiation treatment compromises taste function may provide new insights into fundamental processes underlying normal orosensory biology.

临床口味缺陷是普通人群中罕见的疾病，其速度低于嗅觉损失的速度（请参阅Core）。味觉患者的缺乏使研究味道障碍的研究变得困难，因此他们的治疗问题很大。然而，这种概括有一个突出的例外。在接受放射治疗（放射疗法）的所有头颈癌患者中，超过90％的患者经历了大量的味道丧失和食物风味感知的改变。这些变化是减少食物摄入，厌食和体重减轻的主要因素。他们还有助于大幅度降低一般生活质量 并增加了痛苦。众所周知，放疗对味觉感知的全部影响，也不是与之相关的味道异常的确切基础。放射疗法可能会长期通过反复的炎症性损伤，随后的纤维化和抗血管后遗症和/或通过遗传上皮/味再生性细胞过程的遗传改变来改变味性上皮。该杂种学科研究计划的长期目标是：（1）仔细记录放射疗法导致的质量，质量和味觉感知的变化； （2）同时记录遵循放射疗法的味觉系统中的形态学，组织学和分子变化，并将其与观察到的感知变化联系起来； （3）确定长期的味觉缺陷和异常是由 重复的，积累的炎症侮辱，辐射引起的重建细胞和干细胞的遗传改变和/或这些事件的上皮后遗症，以开始了解这些异常的原因。这种理解将深入了解患者的潜在治疗干预措施。还可以预料，结果将在患者结局概况的发展中得到满足，从而为患者及其医生提供重要的预后信息，并最终改善患者护理和生活质量。最后，有关辐射处理如何损害口味功能的信息可能会提供对正常口感生物学基本过程的新见解。