Reduced taste function and taste papillae density in children with chronic kidney disease

Background: Taste loss may contribute to the loss of appetite in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and other serious medical conditions that result in malnutrition. Traditional methods for measurement of taste loss commonly use aqueous tastant solutions that can induce nausea, vomiting, or even pain in the mouth. An alternative is to measure fungiform papillae density on the anterior tongue since this correlates with taste sensitivity. Here we aimed to develop a non-invasive method for assessing papillae density on the anterior tongue and to use the method to determine if CKD patients [estimated glomerular filtrate (eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2)] have a lower density than clinical controls (CC)(eGFR > 89 ml/min/1.73 m2). Methods: Thirty-five healthy adults participated in the development of a method, which was assessed by 24 children, 12 of whom were CKD patients and 12 were clinical controls. Results: Similar papillae densities were found using invasive and non-invasive methods (F(1,34) = 0.647, p = 0.427). The CKD group had a significantly lower papillae density (X2 = 7.17, p = 0.007) and poorer taste sensitivity than the CC group (p = 0.0272), and the density correlated significantly with eGFR (r = 0.56, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Loss of taste in children with CKD is due to the reduced number of papillae and their taste-sensing receptor cells.