BIOGENIC-AMINES IN THE TASTE ORGAN

The presence and content of biogenic amines in taste disk-bearing fung iform papillae of the frog, Rana esculenta, the only available model o f an isolated taste organ, were verified by means of HPLC. Fungiform p apillae were found to contain measurable amounts of serotonin, epineph rine and norepinephrine. The amounts of serotonin and epinephrine were significantly higher in fungiform papillae than in the general mucosa of the tongue. Moreover, the epinephrine content of fungiform papilla e was found to differ across the tongue, in accordance with previous p hysiological studies showing an inhomogeneous response of different to ngue regions to taste stimuli. Ultrastructural and histochemical inves tigations confirmed the presence of catecholamine and serotonin. The l atter was found to be contained mainly in the basal cells of the frog taste disk. These results extend previous qualitative data on the pres ence of biogenic amines in taste chemoreceptors.