Impairment of Olfaction and of the Tastes of Sour and Bitter in Pseudohypoparathyroidism

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Abstract
Detection and recognition for each of the 4 modalities of taste and for the vapors of pyridine, thiophene and nitrobenzene were determined in 6 patients with pseudohypoparathyroidism, confirmed by clinical and laboratory examinations. For taste, median detection and recognition thresholds for salt and sweet were generally within normal limits; detection and recognition thresholds for sour and bitter were significantly elevated above normal. For olfaction, detection and recognition thresholds for all vapors tested were significantly elevated above normal. Treatment with calcium, parathyroid extract or both did not return either taste or smell sensitivity to normal, although parathyroid extract in high doses eventually raised serum calcium, lowered serum phosphorus, and raised urinary phosphorus excretion. The taste abnormalities may be accounted for by the anatomical and/or neurosensory abnormalities of the palate observed in each of these patients. The gustatory and olfactory abnormalities in patients with pseudohypoparathyroidism are similar to those observed in patients with chromatin-negative gonadal dysgenesis, and, as such, are the first similarities of sensation observed between these 2 syndromes.