Do you know why do obese people have less sensitive taste buds?
New York: Inflammation, driven by obesity, may reduce the number of taste buds on the tongue by 25 per cent, while affecting a person's sensitivity to the taste of food, researchers have found.
Obesity is known to be associated with a chronic state of low-grade inflammation in the adipose tissue that stores energy in the form of fat.
The adipose tissue further produces pro-inflammatory cytokines -- molecules that serve as signals between cells -- including one called TNF-alpha.
Researchers noted that a high-fat diet increases the level of TNF-alpha surrounding the taste buds, making them less sensitive to the taste of food.
"Our findings suggest that gross adiposity stemming from chronic exposure to a high-fat diet is associated with a low-grade inflammatory response causing a disruption in the balancing mechanisms of taste bud maintenance and renewal," said Robin Dando, Assistant Professor at the Cornell University in the US.
A taste bud comprises of approximately 50 to 100 cells of three major types, each with different roles in sensing the five primary tastes (salt, sweet, bitter, sour, and umami). Taste bud cells turn over quickly, with an average lifespan of just 10 days.
The turnover of taste bud cells normally arises from a balanced combination of programmed cell death (a process known as apoptosis) and generation of new cells from special progenitor cells.
The study, published in the journal PLOS Biology, observed that the rate of apoptosis increased in obese mice, whereas the number of taste bud progenitor cells in the tongue declined, likely explaining the net decline in the number of taste buds.
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Odisha: Medical College expels 5 MBBS students from hostel for ragging juniors
Berhampur (Odisha), Nov 2: Five MBBS fourth-year students of government-run MKCG Medical College here were expelled from the hostel for allegedly ragging juniors, an official said on Saturday.
Earlier the five students have been rusticated from the campus for six months. The punishment was imposed as per the decision of the anti-ragging committee meeting held on Wednesday, the official said.
"The anti-ragging committee has taken such a hard decision to arrest further occurrence of ragging incidents in the medical college campus," said SP (Berhampur) Sarvan Vivek M, who is one of the members of the anti-ragging committee of the college.
Suchitra Dash, in-charge Dean of the college, however, declined to comment on the development.
The SP said they were also investigating separately against these students based on the FIR lodged. The statement of the students have been recorded by the police on Friday, he said.
While one second-year MBBS student has given a written complaint to the college authorities alleging ragging by senior students, three other complaints of ragging were lodged by parents of the students with the National Medical Council (NMC).
The NMC had directed the college authorities to inquire into the allegations and take action against the students.
After receiving the complaints from the NMC, the anti-ragging committee of the medical college inquired into the matter.
In February this year, the medical college authorities had suspended two fourth-year MBBS students for two months for ragging a second-year student.
