1. Introduction
cough, throat
COLD, FLU
These authors contributed equally to this work.There is wide variation in how individuals perceive the chemosensory attributes of liquid formulations of ibuprofen, encompassing both adults and children. To understand personal variation in the taste and chemesthesis properties of this medicine, and how to measure it, our first scientific strategy centered on utilizing trained adult panelists, due to the complex and time-consuming psychophysical tasks needed at this initial stage. We conducted a double-blind cohort study in which panelists underwent whole-genome-wide genotyping and psychophysically evaluated an over-the-counter pediatric medicine containing ibuprofen. Associations between sensory phenotypes and genetic variation near/within irritant and taste receptor genes were determined. Panelists who experienced the urge to cough or throat sensations found the medicine less palatable and sweet, and more irritating. Perceptions varied with genetic ancestry; panelists of African genetic ancestry had fewer chemesthetic sensations, rating the medicine sweeter, less irritating, and more palatable than did those of European genetic ancestry. We discovered a novel association between How medications are delivered often differs between children and adults. While adults typically take medicine as solid formulations, encapsulating unpleasant-tasting active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), young children, unable or unwilling to swallow pills or capsules, are treated with liquid formulations that contain sugars, salts, and flavor volatiles to improve palatability [In the United Kingdom, a popular cold and flu medicine for adults is formulated as a powder, containing APIs and excipients such as lemon flavors and sweeteners [For pediatric populations, ibuprofen is often delivered as a sweetened suspension because sweetness is not only a preferred taste but also effective in masking unpleasant tastes [The primary goal of the present study was (1) to begin addressing this hypothesis by (a) determining the degree of personal variation in the palatability of a popular over-the-counter (OTC) sweetened formulation of ibuprofen via detailed measurements of chemosensory perceptions in a trained adult sensory panel and (b) comparing these results with panelists’ genetics, by conducting a candidate gene association study on selected variants in/near sweet and bitter taste receptors (TAS1Rs and TAS2Rs) and related chemosensory transient receptor potential (TRP) channels. For this initial study, we did not test children because the psychophysical tasks needed were complex and lengthy, and because, as reported above, variation in the perception of ibuprofen exists in both adults and children [