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Selective taste impairment in relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis and Supervised Learning - driven diagnostic
Melania Melis1, Lala Chaimae Naciri1, Mariano Mastinu1
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Italy.
Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders
|August 8, 2026
Summary
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients show significant taste impairments in bitter, salty, and sour flavors. These taste changes can accurately identify MS, suggesting taste tests aid diagnosis and monitoring.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Immunology
- Genetics
Background:
- Taste disturbances are often overlooked in Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
- Neuroinflammation and demyelination in MS may affect chemosensory pathways.
- Understanding taste perception changes in MS is crucial for comprehensive patient assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate taste perception differences between People with MS (PwMS) and healthy controls (HCs).
- To determine if taste features can classify MS using Supervised Learning (SL).
- To examine associations between taste perception and taste receptor gene polymorphisms in MS.
Main Methods:
- Validated taste-strip tests were used to assess taste identification and detection thresholds.
- Supervised Learning (SL) algorithms, including CatBoost, were employed for classification.
- SHAP algorithm analyzed feature importance for MS prediction.
- Taste receptor gene polymorphisms were examined for group differences.
Main Results:
- PwMS demonstrated significant impairments in identifying bitter, salty, and sour tastes.
- A selective increase in the bitter detection threshold was observed in PwMS.
- Sweet taste perception was relatively preserved in PwMS.
- SL models achieved high accuracy (86% testing) in distinguishing PwMS from HCs based on taste patterns.
- Bitter and sour (citric acid) perception thresholds and identification scores were key predictors of MS.
- A TAS1R2 gene polymorphism showed frequency differences but had minimal impact on classification compared to behavioral taste measures.
Conclusions:
- Specific, quantifiable taste alterations are characteristic of MS.
- Multivariate taste-sensitivity patterns can reliably differentiate PwMS from HCs.
- Taste testing holds potential for early MS diagnosis, disease monitoring, and improving quality of life.
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