Olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions and lipid profiles: a community-based study.pdf

Olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions and lipid profiles: a community-based study Shue Huang1, Zhe Huang2, Junjuan Li2, Cheng Jin2, Kathleen L Keller1, Greg Shearer1, Shouling Wu2, Xiang Gao1 1 Department of Nutritional Science, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Kailuan Hospital, Tangshan, People’s Republic of China

OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND Several lipid-related hormones and peptides, such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and leptin are linked to regulation of gustatory and olfactory function. We thus hypothesized that individuals with gustatory and/or olfactory dysfunction have higher blood cholesterol concentrations. We tested this hypothesis in a Chinese community-based study.

METHODS In this cross-sectional study conducted in 2012, we enrolled 10,072 Chinese participants (8,487 men and 1,585 women, mean age 53.4 years) who did not take hypolipidemic agents. We asked perceived olfactory and gustatory dysfunction for at least 3 months via a questionnaire. Participants were categorized into three groups based on the number of these chemosensory dysfunctions, ranging from 0 to 2. We collected 12-hour overnight fasting blood samples and assessed concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride, and total cholesterol (TC). TC concentration was taken as a primary outcome of the current analysis. The General Linear Model was used to test differences in concentrations of TC and other lipids across groups with different olfactory and gustatory status, after adjusting for potential confounders such as demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, smoking, obesity and history of cardiovascular disease, cancer and head injury. We further tested the interaction between potential risk factors and the chemosensory function.

RESULTS Prevalence of olfactory dysfunction was 2.30% and gustatory dysfunction was 1.25%. The adjusted means were 5.53, 5.32 and 5.13 mmol/l for individuals with two, one and zero chemosensory dysfunctions, respectively (P-trend=0.008). Those with greater chemosensory dysfunction were also more likely to have higher concentration of LDL-C (P-trend =0.07), but not HDL-C and triglyceride (P-trend>0.2 for both), compared with those with less chemosensory dysfunction. Subgroup analyses showed that the associations between chemosensory dysfunction and TC concentrations were more pronounced in participants aged 60 years or younger, non-smokers, and those without alcohol consumption, respectively, relative to their counterparts (P-interaction<0.05 for all).

CONCLUSION In this large cross-sectional study, olfactory and gustatory dysfunction was associated with higher blood concentrations of TC. Further prospective study is needed to investigate the temporal relation between these chemosensory dysfunctions and hyperlipidemia.