Bitter Taste Receptors Discovered in Lung Which May Help Asthma Sufferers
October 26th, 2010 - 1:31 am ICT by Angela Kaye MasonOct 25 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Researchers have recently discovered that the mouth is not the only place on the human body which contains taste receptors. This knowledge promises to give scientists more to work with when it comes to treating diseases like asthma.
The smooth muscle in the lungs and airways of the human body have receptors for bitter tastes, and the muscles tend to relax greatly when exposed to such flavors.This was reported on Sunday by researchers located at the University of Maryland College of Medicine, on the online version of the ‘Nature Medicine’ journal.
Doctor Stephen B. Liggett was very surprised by the findings, since bitter tastes are often found in poisonous substances as a way for the body to warn a person of the toxicity. Because of this, Dr Liggett expected the lungs to contract due to a “fight or flight” response, and cause coughing and tightness in the chest.
However, the theory was proven wrong when the human and mice which were exposed to non toxic bitter tastes to the lungs showed the muscle tissue relaxing more than any drug which has been used to treat asthma, and other diseases.
According to Liggett, the bitter flavors “all opened the airway more profoundly than any known drug that we have for treatment of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.”
He went on to state, “That’s the fun of science, when you find something you didn’t expect.”
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