Taste buds and neuronal markers in patients with chronic renal failure

Objective:To study the number of taste buds and, with the use of specific m arkers for peripheral nervous tissue, to study the neuronal pattern in tast e buds from 36 patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), 19 renal transpla nt recipients, and 40 healthy subjects. Of the patients with CRF, 17 patien ts had not started dialysis, 12 patients were on peritoneal dialysis, and 7 patients were on hemodialysis. Design: From all subjects, two or three fungiform papillae were collected f rom the anterior part of the tongue. Cryostat sections were cut and inspect ed under light microscopy to determine the presence of taste buds. The sect ions were subsequently incubated with primary rabbit antibodies against pro tein gene product 9.5, substance P, and nerve growth factor receptor. Results: Using these antibodies, no differences between the groups were obs erved. However, patients with CRF had fewer taste buds than control subject s. Conclusion: No immunohistochemical differences were observed between patien ts with CRF and healthy controls. However, patients with CRF had significan tly fewer fungiform taste buds, suggesting an important factor contributing to the well-known impairment of taste acuity in this patient group.