Presentation Details
| Impact of oral microbiome perturbation on orthonasal and retronasal olfactory perception. Alyssa M.Sutanto, Christopher T.Simons. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA |
Abstract
The olfactory system operates through two distinct pathways: orthonasal and retronasal. Both pathways converge on receptors at the olfactory epithelium, yet perception of a given stimulus is thought to depend on the pathway taken. Emerging evidence suggests that oral microorganisms may alter retronasal aroma perception, contributing to these pathway-dependent differences. Presently, we investigated whether broad reduction of oral microbial load affects perceptual performance across pathways. Thirty participants engaged in a flavor-matching task under baseline and post-microbial-perturbation conditions. Equintense aqueous flavors (rose, jasmine, lavender, and honeysuckle) were delivered per trial as a reference either orthonasally (ON) or retronasally (RN). Participants then selected the matching stimulus from four blinded options, presented either through the same route (congruent: ON-ON, RN-RN) or different route (incongruent: ON-RN, RN-ON). Microbial load was broadly reduced using three 0.25% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) rinses, brushing, and tongue scraping. Unstimulated saliva was collected for CFU/mL quantification. Results indicate the SDS treatment significantly (p<0.001) reduced microbial load by 1.3 log CFU/mL. Despite this, matching performance and signal detection measures indicated that performance did not differ between control and SDS conditions. Consistent with prior studies, performance remained superior in congruent trials, further confirming route-dependent differences. The minimal effect of SDS suggests that this level of microbial reduction may be inadequate to shift perception; greater or more targeted microbial or metabolic perturbation may be needed to isolate microbial contributions to sensory perception.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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