Intestinal bitter taste receptors in health: a multifactorially regulated role from the perspective of metabolic crosstalk.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing mechanistic biology without systematic methodology or primary human trial data
PubMed 40996059 · doi:10.1080/10408398.2025.2563176
What was done
The authors synthesized literature on the role of intestinal bitter taste receptors (TAS2Rs) in metabolic regulation. The review examines TAS2R downstream signaling pathways, interactions with other gut taste receptors, and modulation by genetics, gut microbiota, age, sex, and chemical exposures.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical data or quantitative outcomes. It describes that TAS2Rs influence gastric emptying, appetite, food intake, and energy balance via the release of intestinal hormones including glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), with expression regulated by multifactorial host and environmental variables.
Why it matters
Elucidating how gut bitter taste receptors influence metabolic signaling provides mechanistic rationale for targeting TAS2Rs in precision nutrition and metabolic disease interventions.
Limits
As a narrative review, it lacks systematic search methodology, quality assessment, and quantitative synthesis. The abstract provides no primary data, sample sizes, or effect estimates, and does not delineate human clinical findings from preclinical or in vitro mechanisms.
Cited by
- context Bitter taste receptors located throughout the digestive tract account for nearly 50% of all digestive signaling in the body.
- context Bitter receptors control upwards of half of all digestive signals in the human body.