MEDICATIONS EFFECT ON TASTE AND SMELL IN HIV

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DESCRIPTION (adapted from the Abstract): The purpose of this research is to determine the effect of medications used by HIV-infected patients on the senses of taste and smell. Significant losses in taste and smell perception occur in HIV infection, and these losses may contribute to inadequate food intake leading to malnutrition, weight loss, and ultimately wasting. Both experimental data and clinical reports indicate that medications play a major role in taste and olfactory losses. Clinical observations are helpful in determining potential chemosensory side effects of drugs; however, quantitative experimental studies are necessary to obtain scientifically accurate data on chemosensory losses resulting from use of pharmaceutical compounds. The Investigator and her associates will perform two projects. In Project I they will assess the effect of drugs on taste perception at the periphery by topical application of the pharmaceutical compounds to the tongue of asymptomatic HIV-infected persons and matched uninfected controls. (These studies are mandated because drugs are secreted into the saliva at concentrations that can modify taste transduction.) In Project II they will evaluate the effect of systemic use of medications on taste and smell perception in early HIV.