Subchronic and mild social defeat stress downregulates peripheral expression of sweet and umami taste receptors in male mice

• Published in: Biochemical and biophysical research communications 2021-11, Vol.579, p.116-121
• Main Authors: Yoshida, Yuta, Miyazaki, Misa, Yajima, Yuhei, Toyoda, Atsushi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anhedonia; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Body Weight; Brain-Gut Axis - physiology; Depression; Depression - metabolism; Drinking; Eating; Gene Expression Regulation; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Inbred ICR; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled - metabolism; Reward; Social Behavior; Social Defeat; Social defeat stress; Stress, Psychological; Sucrose; Sucrose preference; Taste - physiology; Taste Buds - metabolism; Taste disorder; Taste Perception; Taste receptor; Urine - chemistry
• ISSN: 0006-291X; 1090-2104
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2021.09.063

Depression is associated with taste disorders; however, the mechanisms by which mental stress affects taste perception are not well understood. This study aimed to elucidate the effects of psychosocial stress on peripheral taste-sensing systems using a mouse depression model. Male mice were subjected to subchronic and mild social defeat stress (sCSDS). Results showed that sCSDS significantly increased body weight, food and water intake, and social avoidance behavior and that sCSDS did not change reward-seeking behavior on sucrose preference but tended to decrease pheromonal preference for female urine. Furthermore, sCSDS downregulated the mRNA levels of sweet and umami taste receptor subunits, i.e., sweet taste receptor type 1 members 2 and 3 (T1R2 and T1R3), but not the umami taste receptor subunit, i.e., taste receptor type 1 member 1 (T1R1), in the circumvallate papillae of mice. It is known that sucrose preference is mediated by the gut–brain axis without taste perception; thus, it was considered that sCSDS affected the peripheral taste-sensing systems, rather than the central reward systems, which mediate sucrose preference. This is the first study to report that psychosocial stress affects peripheral sweet and umami taste-sensing systems. •The effects of mild psychosocial stress on taste-sensing systems were studied.•sCSDS increased body weight, food and water intakes, and social avoidance behavior.•sCSDS did not change reward-seeking behavior on sucrose preference.•sCSDS tended to decrease reward-seeking behavior on female urine sniffing.•sCSDS significantly reduced peripheral expression of T1R2 and T1R3, but not T1R1.