This “taste test” may help determine a person’s
risk for alcoholism, say Henry R. Kranzler, M.D., of the University of
Connecticut
Health Center and colleagues. People with a family history of alcoholism
are known
to be at greater risk of developing the disorder than those without such
a family history.
Their findings are published in the June issue of Alcoholism:
Clinical and Experimental Research.
Some previous studies have shown an association between a preference for sweet
tastes and excessive alcohol intake.
Kranzler and colleagues recruited 112 non-alcoholic participants for their
study. Of those, 45 had alcoholic fathers. Individuals who had experienced
any alcohol, drug or psychiatric disorders were excluded. The participants
were then given a series of salty and sour solutions in varying concentrations,
and asked to rate each for intensity and pleasantness.
Kranzler added that the implications of these findings need to be considered
within the context of the study participants.
“We evaluated a group of nonalcoholic offspring of alcoholic fathers.
In light of that, there are two possible explanations for our findings,” he
says. “First, these results could indicate that individuals with a
family history who are protected from alcoholism possess unique taste characteristics
which contribute to this protection, that is, decreased pleasantness of salt
and increased perception of intensity of sour.”
Alternatively, Kranzler suggests, certain groups of individuals with a paternal
history of alcoholism may inherit genetic alterations in taste characteristics
that put them at increased risk for alcoholism.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Dental
Clinical Research Center at the University of Connecticut Health Center.
