The preference for sweetness is a physiological ability of humans, but it is important to elucidate the mechanism because excessive intake of sugars may cause lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity and diabetes.On the other hand, there are regional differences in the preference for sweetness, and genetic factors are also involved.Studies in Europe and the United States have revealed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that affect taste preferences such as sweetness (where a specific base sequence differs at a frequency of 1% or more in a population). Until then, there were no studies targeting Asian populations such as Japanese.

　This time, as a result of analysis using the genome information and Web questionnaire information of about 1 Japanese people, it was found that the SNP "rs2" on human chromosome 12 is related to the preference for sweetness. .. rs671 is peculiar to East Asians including Japanese and is related to their strength against alcohol.As a result of the analysis, it was found that the genotype weak to alcohol is positively associated with the preference for sweetness.Previous studies targeting non-Asian populations reported that the stronger the preference for sweetness, the higher the alcohol consumption, but this result shows a different tendency.It was also found that the association between rs671 and the preference for sweetness was stronger in males than in females.

　This study suggests that in the Japanese population, people with less drinking habits with gene polymorphisms that are vulnerable to alcohol tend to have a stronger preference for sweetness.This result is expected to be applied to elucidation of the genetic background of taste preference, diabetes prevention and obesity treatment.

Paper information:[Journal of Human Genetics] Strong association between the 12q24 locus and sweet taste preference in the Japanese population revealed by genome-wide meta-analysis