Biogenic Amines in the Taste Organ

The presence and content of biogenic amines in taste disk-bearing fungiform papillae of the frog, Rana esculenta, the only available model of an isolated taste organ, were verified by means of HPLC. Fungiform papillae were found to contain measurable amounts of serotonin, epinephrine and norepinephrine. The amounts of serotonin and epinephrine were significantly higher in fungiform papillae than in the general mucosa of the tongue. Moreover, the epinephrine content of fungiform papillae was found to differ across the tongue, in accordance with previous physiological studies showing an inhomogeneous response of different tongue regions to taste stimuli. Ultrastructural and histochemical investigations confirmed the presence of catecholamine and serotonin. The latter was found to be contained mainly in the basal cells of the frog taste disk. These results extend previous qualitative data on the presence of biogenic amines in taste chemoreceptors. Chem. Senses 20: 329–335, 1995.