Dysgeusia limited to sweet taste in myasthenia gravis

Abstract

Total dysgeusia, an inability to interpret all of the basic tastes, often occurs with zinc deficiency. Partial dysgeusia (dissociation dysgeusia) is a rare inability to interpret a limited number of these basic tastes. We present the case of a patient with myasthenia gravis who became unable to discern sweet taste, but other basic tastes were unaffected. Such dysgeusia can be explained by obstruction of selective taste receptors in taste cells. We considered that this symptom was induced by an autoimmune mechanism related to myasthenia gravis. © 2008 The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine.