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Updated: Aug 22, 2026

Measuring Oral Fatty Acid Thresholds, Fat Perception, Fatty Food Liking, and Papillae Density in Humans
Published on: June 4, 2014
Observation of tongue papillae by video microscopy and contact endoscopy to investigate their correlation with taste
Atsushi Negoro1, Masanori Umemoto, Keijiro Fukazawa
1Department of Otolaryngology, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa, Nisinomiya City, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan. a-negoro@hyo-med.ac.jp
Objectives:
Contact endoscopy is a technique used to obtain detailed images of living epithelium in the fields of gynecology, rhinology and laryngology. Video microscopy is useful for observation of the surface of tongue papillae. In the present study, we attempted to apply the contact endoscopy technique together with video microscopy to observe tongue papillae, and to study the correlation between the condition of fungiform papillae and taste function.
Methods:
Ten subjects (3 men, 7 women) were divided into two groups based on the results of a taste examination by electrogustometry. We compared the shape and blood vessels of the papillae between normal taste and taste disorder groups.
Results:
In the normal taste group, round shaped papillae and clear blood vessels were observed with both microscopy and contact endoscopy. In the taste disorder group, flat and irregular papillae were observed with microscopy. Blood vessel flow of the papillae was observed to be poor with contact endoscopy.
Conclusion:
These findings suggested that the images of microscopy and contact endoscopy were related to taste function, and both techniques were useful for evaluating taste function.
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