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Fat Taste Nerves and Their Function in Food Intake Regulation

  • Oral Disease and Nutrition (F Nishimura, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of the Review

Adequate energy and nutrient intake are necessary to maintain homeostasis. However, people often consume high-calorie food beyond their energy needs. Hence, elucidating the sensing mechanisms of fatty acids involved in food intake regulation is important. In this review, we summarized some of the findings on the sensing mechanisms of fatty acid taste in the gastrointestinal tract.

Recent Findings

Several molecules in the tongue (taste organ) are involved in fatty acid detection. GPR40 (FFAR1) and GPR120 (FFAR4) in the mouse tongue transmit information on fatty acids to the brain. In particular, GPR120 is involved in the neural information pathway that is pivotal for distinguishing fatty acid tastes from other primary tastes. GPR120 was first reported to be involved in appetite and feeding control in the intestine through secretion of the intestinal peptide GLP-1. Recently, GPR120 was also shown to suppress ghrelin secretion by fatty acid stimulation in gastric ghrelin-expressing cells. Further, taste information of fatty acids induces cephalic phase responses before food reaches the digestive organs, priming the body for incoming fats or oils.

Summary

The F-type nerve, a fatty acid-specific taste nerve type, exists in approximately 18% of the taste fibers of the mouse chorda tympani. Other fiber types that respond to umami or sucrose are also sensitive to fatty acids. Oral fat sensing elicits cephalic phase responses, such as serum triacylglycerol, non-esterified fatty acids, insulin, pancreatic polypeptide, cholecystokinin, and probably GLP-1,2. Further investigation of fatty acid receptor blocking is necessary to understand the different roles of each receptor (with neural coding) in cephalic phase response.

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Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP 20H03855 (K. Y.), and also funded by a Senshu University research grant (Kenkyu Josei) in R.2 (2020) and is based on the results of a project entitled “mausu ketsugouwanboukaku shutsunyuryokuyoushiki ni kansuru shinkeikaibougakuteki kenkyu” (K. T.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dental Hygiene, Tokyo Dental Junior College, 2-9-18, Kandamisaki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101-0061, Japan

    Keiko Yasumatsu

  2. Institute of Natural Sciences, Senshu University, 3-8-1, Kandajinbo-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101–8425, Japan

    Kenich Tokita

Authors
  1. Keiko Yasumatsu
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  2. Kenich Tokita
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Correspondence to Keiko Yasumatsu.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

All reported studies/experiments with human or animal subjects performed by the authors have been previously published and complied with all applicable ethical standards. Our experimental procedures were approved by the committee for Laboratory Animal Care and Use at Tokyo Dental College (Tokyo Japan).

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Yasumatsu, K., Tokita, K. Fat Taste Nerves and Their Function in Food Intake Regulation. Curr Oral Health Rep 9, 75–80 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40496-022-00315-y

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