Obesity and Lipids: a Matter of Taste? (HumanFATaste)

June 3, 2026 updated by: Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France

Obesity and Lipids: a Matter of Taste? Impact of Bariatric Surgery on Taste Receptors

The purpose of the protocol is to determine the impact of bariatric surgery on taste receptors and taste perceptions and to precise the factors implicated in taste alterations in 50 obese patients before and 6 months after bariatric surgery (25 Roux Y gastric bypass and 25 sleeve gastrectomy).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Over-consumption high sugar and high fat foods was identified as a main risk factor for obesity. The recent identification of lipid-receptor (CD36, GPR120) in human taste buds suggests that lipids could be perceived not only by their texture and their olfactory characteristics, but also by way of taste. Obese subjects tend to consume more high fat foods than lean subjects. Conversely, bariatric surgery induces behavioral changes limiting the consumption of foods high in sugar and fat. The mechanisms underlying these behavioral changes are not understood. Does obesity is accompanied by a distortion of taste detection of dietary lipids? What are the mechanisms involved? Are they reversible? What could be the effect on food choices and health? This protocol is part of a broader research program that aims to answer these questions by studying the feeding behavior in obese subjects and animals before and after a bariatric surgery.

The purpose of the protocol is to determine the impact of bariatric surgery on the expression of taste receptors and taste perceptions and in particular the threshold of perception of fat (and sweet as taste as reference) and to study the association between the changes of taste perceptions and food preferences, amount of weight loss, surgical technique (with or without intestinal bypass), hormonal, metabolic and inflammatory changes, and modification of the oral microbiota. The study will included 50 patients who underwent bariatric surgery, either Roux Y gastric bypass (25 patients) or sleeve gastrectomy (25 patients) that will be explored in the two months before and six months after surgery. These explorations will included a clinical examination with collection of anthropometric data, a body fat determination by impedance, a detailed dietary survey, blood samples for assessment of hormonal parameters (GLP1 , PYY, ghrelin, insulin, leptin) and inflammatory parameters (LPS, TNFalpha, IL-1, IL-6, ...), a tong micro-biopsy to collect taste buds and a sample of oral microbiota and lipids and sugars thresholds determination (linoleic acid or sucrose).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

20

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • France
      • Colombes, France, 92700
        • Hôpital Louis Mourier

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 55 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Affiliation to a health insurance
  • Patients candidates for bariatric surgery based on criteria established by international experts (BMI> 40 or> 35 kg / m² with severe comorbidities, after failure of multidisciplinary care for a period of at least 1 year)
  • Written consent after oral and written informations

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Topic guardianship, curatorship or safeguard justice.
  • Taking a treatment known to alter the perception of taste
  • Oral Decay can affect the perception of taste
  • Treatment that may interfere with intestinal peptides or lipids receptors (especially DDP4 inhibitors, anti-inflammatory medications, intestinal lipase inhibitors: Xenical)
  • Tobacco use, alcohol or drugs abuse
  • Known coagulopathy, abnormal hemostasis tests or abnormal platelets count, treatment interfering with coagulation or platelet aggregation
  • Contraindication to bariatric surgery
  • Malignant pathology, severe liver disease or severe inflammatory disease, malabsorption.
  • Pregnancy
  • Positive serology for VIH, VBH and CVH

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Roux Y gastric bypass
candidates for bariatric surgery by Roux Y gastric bypass with taste assessment and epithelium gustatory smear and biopsy
Other: taste assessment and epithelium gustatory smear and biopsy
assessment of taste perceptions and expression of taste receptors before and after bariatric surgery and epithelium gustatory smear and biopsy
Experimental: Sleeve gastrectomy
candidates for bariatric surgery by sleeve gastrectomy with taste assessment and epithelium gustatory smear and biopsy
Other: taste assessment and epithelium gustatory smear and biopsy
assessment of taste perceptions and expression of taste receptors before and after bariatric surgery and epithelium gustatory smear and biopsy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Expression of lipid receptors
Time Frame: before and 6 months after bariatric surgery
To compare the expression of lipid receptors expressed in the taste buds before and after a significant weight loss induced by bariatric surgery
before and 6 months after bariatric surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Lipids thresholds
Time Frame: before and 6 months after bariatric surgery
To determine the relationship between taste receptor expression and changes in lipid and sugar perception thresholds before and after surgery
before and 6 months after bariatric surgery

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Factors associated with taste perception
Time Frame: before and 6 months after bariatric surgery
To identify the factors associated with the expression and functionality of taste receptors before and after bariatric surgery: body fat, metabolic, endocrine and inflammatory parameters and peripapillary microbiota.
before and 6 months after bariatric surgery
Influence of surgical technique on taste perception
Time Frame: before and 6 months after bariatric surgery
To compare the effect of RYGBP which bypass the proximal gut with changes in intestinal endocrine secretions and lipid absorption, to that of SG that is a pure restrictive technique without intestinal bypass.
before and 6 months after bariatric surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Séverine Ledoux, APHP-INSERM

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 11, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 8, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 10, 2015

First Posted (Estimated)

July 14, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 5, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 3, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • C14-77
  • 2015-A00906-43 (Registry Identifier: ID-RCB)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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