Objectives: To evaluate the gustatory and olfactory functions of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to sex- and age-matched healthy subjects and to investigate a potential relationship between disease activity [using the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28)] and chemosensory capacity. Furthermore, to dissect possible impacts of standard anti-inflammatory medications on the gustatory and olfactory functions.
Methods: Patients with established RA underwent standardized assessment of their gustatory and olfactory functions. The patients were also examined for their disease activity, had their specific blood-test results analysed, and were asked to answer a standardized questionnaire about their quality of life, the negative effects of their disease, and about comorbidities.
Results: A total of 101 RA patients (75 women, 26 men, mean age: 57.9 ± 13.8 and 64.2 ± 10.9 years, respectively) were analysed. In relation to age- and sex-related subjects, both female and male RA patients had a significantly decreased taste score (p < 0.001) and also a significantly decreased olfactory score (p < 0.05), indicating that a substantial number of patients suffer from hypogeusia or hyposmia. This abnormality did not correlate with disease activity, the duration of the disease, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) or tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor use, and the loss of the chemosensory functions, together indicating that hypogeusia and hyposmia are frequent clinical manifestations in RA patients independent of the inflammatory activity of their disease.
Conclusion: The results indicate that there is a significant decrease in the olfactory and gustatory function in RA patients compared to those of healthy controls, which can seriously and substantially affect the quality of the patients' life.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/03009742.2010.517547 | DOI Listing |
Diseases
December 2024
Department of Clinical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Background: Following the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many patients have reported ongoing smell and taste issues. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction among patients with a history of COVID-19 and its association with autonomic dysfunction and disability.
Patient And Methods: This case-control study included a COVID-19 group (n = 82) and a control group (n = 82).
Brain Sci
January 2025
Department of Surgery, Section of Neurosurgery, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) has been developed and edited by the World Health Organisation and represents the global standard for recording health information and causes of death. The ICD-11 is the eleventh revision and came into effect on 1 January 2022. Perceptual disturbances refer to abnormalities in the way sensory information is interpreted by the brain, leading to distortions in the perception of reality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Physiol
January 2025
Department of Biological Science, Programs in Neuroscience, Molecular Biophysics and Cell and Molecular Biology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
Eating behaviours are influenced by the integration of gustatory, olfactory and somatosensory signals, which all contribute to the perception of flavour. Although extensive research has explored the neural correlates of taste in the gustatory cortex (GC), less is known about its role in encoding thermal information. This study investigates the encoding of oral thermal and chemosensory signals by GC neurons compared to the oral somatosensory cortex.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFood Chem
January 2025
Department of Food Science & Technology, School of Agriculture & Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China; School of Food Science and Engineering, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China. Electronic address:
This study investigates the flavor perception of strong-aroma Baijiu through physiological electrical signals, focusing on electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) during olfactory and gustatory evaluations. It examines how sensory qualities, especially mellowness, influence brain and muscle responses. Results showed significant differences in EEG δ and β wavebands, mainly in the frontal and temporal lobes, reflecting varying brain activities across Baijiu types.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt Forum Allergy Rhinol
January 2025
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
In patients with severe olfactory and gustatory dysfunction, olfactory cleft opacification improves with expanded intranasal steroid treatment (EDS-FLU) relative to placebo. This is directly associated with objective and patient-reported taste/smell improvement.
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