ArticleEuropean archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery2026
Blood biomarkers for the prediction of idiopathic taste dysfunction: a case-control study.
Article in European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
purposeTaste dysfunction affects quality of life, yet its biological development remains poorly understood.
methodsWe investigated clinical and biochemical differences between 50 patients with idiopathic dysgeusia and 102 healthy controls (110 women, 42 men; mean age 46.4 ± 1.4 years). Each participants underwent a clinical anamnesis, a taste test, and a blood analysis.
resultsPatients were older (61 vs. 39 years; p < 0.001) and more often female (86% vs. 66%; p = 0.009). Patients had lower Taste Strips scores, and higher scores on depression (Beck Depression Index) and mood-related questionnaires (Zerssen Mood Scale; both p < 0.001). Blood analyses revealed that patients had higher levels of complement C4 (p = 0.011) and calcium (p = 0.019 ANCOVA, age-controlled). A logistic regression model including age, gender, C4, Ca, K, and transferrin predicted taste dysfunction with high accuracy (Nagelkerke R²=0.74; 91.4% correctly classified). Increased age, higher C4 and female sex were associated with higher odds of taste dysfunction, while higher potassium, transferrin levels, and salivary calcium were protective (p ≤ 0.030).
conclusionThese findings suggest that taste dysfunction is accompanied by systemic inflammatory conditions and lower levels of electrolytes in serum may contribute to development of taste diseases. Overall, the results suggest that idiopathic dysgeusia appears to be related to metabolic imbalance.
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