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Tobacco Induced Diseases
Published in: Tobacco Induced Diseases 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research

Effect of cigarette smoke on gustatory sensitivity, evaluation of the deficit and of the recovery time-course after smoking cessation

Authors: Fabrice Chéruel, Marta Jarlier, Hélène Sancho-Garnier

Published in: Tobacco Induced Diseases | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

Background

Study results have shown that chronic exposure to cigarette smoke affects the taste function in humans. However, neither the quantitative impact on taste sensitivity nor the time-course of taste recovery on stopping smoking have been precisely examined.

Methods

The experimental design included 2 phases, (i) a case–control phase comparing the taste sensitivity level measured by Electrogustometric (EGM) thresholds from various parts of the tongue (locus) between smokers (n = 83) and non-smokers (n = 48), (ii) a follow-up study looking at the taste sensitivity recovery in smokers after smoking cessation (n = 24) and compared with non-smokers.

Results

Smokers exhibited significantly lower taste sensitivity than non-smokers - the higher the nicotine dependence (Fagerström scores), the lower the taste sensitivity. After smoking cessation, EGM thresholds decreased progressively, and reached the taste sensitivity range of non-smokers depending on locus and time. After 2 weeks a recovery could be observed on the 3 Tip and the 2 edge loci; the recovery in the posterior loci was complete after 9 weeks, and in the dorsal loci recovery was observed only after 2 months or more.

Conclusions

Smoking cessation does lead to a rapid recovery of taste sensitivity among smokers, with recovery time found to differ based on the sensitivity of loci of the tongue. The use of EGM could potentially be explored as a motivational tool for smoking cessation.
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Metadata
Title
Effect of cigarette smoke on gustatory sensitivity, evaluation of the deficit and of the recovery time-course after smoking cessation
Authors
Fabrice Chéruel
Marta Jarlier
Hélène Sancho-Garnier
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Tobacco Induced Diseases / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1617-9625
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12971-017-0120-4

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