Uncovering the Role of Taste Receptors in Cardiac Function

In a remarkable finding, scientists have discovered that the heart has "sweet taste" receptors like those on the tongue. Stimulating these receptors with sweet substances can influence heartbeat regulation, offering new insights into heart function and potential treatments for heart failure. (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Sweet Taste Receptors in the Heart: A New Pathway for Cardiac Regulation

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The Heart's Sweet Secret

While taste receptors are traditionally associated with the tongue and our ability to perceive flavors, recent studies have shown that these receptors exist in other parts of the body, where they likely play different roles. This new study is the first to identify specific "sweet taste" receptors, known as TAS1R2 and TAS1R3, on the surface of heart muscle cells. The work will be presented at the 69th Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, to be held February 15 - 19, 2025 in Los Angeles.

When the researchers stimulated these receptors in both human and mouse heart cells using aspartame, a common artificial sweetener, they observed a significant increase in the force of heart muscle contraction and accelerated calcium handling – key processes for a healthy heartbeat.

“After you eat a meal, it's been shown that your heart rate and blood pressure actually are increasing,” said Micah Yoder, a graduate student in the lab of Jonathan Kirk at Loyola University Chicago. “Previously, this was thought to be a neural axis that's being signaled. But we're proposing a more direct consequence, where we have a spike in our blood sugar after eating a meal, and that's binding to these sweet taste receptors on the heart muscle cells, causing a difference in the heartbeat,” he added.

Intriguingly, the researchers also found that these receptors are more abundant in the hearts of patients with heart failure, suggesting a possible link to disease. Further investigation revealed that stimulating the receptors triggers a cascade of molecular events within the heart cells, involving key proteins that control calcium flow and muscle contraction.

"During heart failure, the heart is changing its energetic landscape and prioritizing glucose uptake and glucose usage. So, it's possible that during this energetic change, the heart might need to change its nutrient sensing abilities to accommodate this switch,” Yoder explained.

Not only are these sweet taste receptors particularly stimulated by artificial sweeteners like aspartame, Yoder noted, he found that overstimulation of these sweet taste receptors lead to a an increase in arrhythmic like behavior in the heart cells.

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But further research is needed to fully understand the long-term effects of stimulating these receptors in the heart as well as how these receptors might be targeted to strengthen the heart in the case of heart failure.

Reference:

1. Sweet Taste Receptors in the Heart: A New Pathway for Cardiac Regulation - (https://www.biophysics.org/news-room?ArtMID=802&ArticleID=16515&preview=true)

Source-Eurekalert