A bitter taste for sinus infections

Modulating taste receptors in upper airways might provide a new way to treat chronic rhinosinusitis, according to a study from the University of Pennsylvania that shows bitter taste agonists stimulate the release of antimicrobial peptides in the sinuses.¹ Taste receptor-targeted therapies could reduce patient dependence on antibiotics, but pinpointing the right taste receptor for an individual's infection might be the biggest challenge.

The UPenn team is now optimizing delivery of taste receptor ligands to the nasal cavity for a planned clinical study in rhinosinusitis and is developing a taste test-based diagnostic to link receptor polymorphisms to specific infections...