Chem. Senses 28: 447-458,
2003
© Oxford University Press 2003
Oral Amiloride Treatment Decreases Taste Sensitivity to Sodium Salts in C57BL/6J and DBA/2J Mice
Department of Psychology and the Center for Smell and Taste, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Correspondence to be sent to: Alan C. Spector, Department of Psychology, PO Box 112250, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-2250, USA. e-mail: spector{at}ufl.edu
Sodium taste transduction is thought to occur via an amiloride-sensitive,
sodium-selective pathway and an amiloride-insensitive, cation nonselective,
anion-dependent pathway(s). It has been shown by others that amiloride, an
epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) blocker, significantly reduces the chorda
tympani nerve response to lingually applied NaCl in C57BL/6 (B6) mice but not
in DBA/2 (D2) mice, suggesting that the latter strain might not possess
functional ENaCs in taste receptor cells. We psychophysically measured and
compared taste detection thresholds of NaCl and sodium gluconate (NaGlu)
prepared with and without 100 µM amiloride in these two strains
(eight/strain). Mice were trained and tested in a two-response operant signal
detection procedure conducted in a gustometer. Surprisingly, no strain effect
was found for the detection thresholds of both salts (
0.05–0.06 M).
Moreover, these thresholds were increased by almost an order of magnitude by
amiloride adulteration of the solutions. This marked effect of amiloride on
sodium detection thresholds suggests that ENaCs are necessary for normal
sensitivity to sodium salts in both strains. In addition, because NaGlu is
thought to stimulate primarily the amiloride-sensitive pathway, especially at
low concentrations, the similarity of NaCl and NaGlu thresholds (r
> 0.81 both strains) suggests that ENaCs are also sufficient to support the
detection of sodium in weak solutions by B6 and D2 mice.
Key words: animal psychophysics, epithelial sodium channels, gustatory system, inbred mice, sodium chloride
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