Astringent Effects of Red Wine Associated with Responses of Aquaporins Found in Human Tongue and Salivary Tissues.

Aquaporin (AQP) water channels facilitate fluid transport across cell membranes, are implicated in rodent oral water sensing, and were examined in the human tongue for their modulation by mouthfeel compounds and ensuing effects on perception and saliva tribology. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated abundant AQP1 and AQP2 and moderate AQP5 in human tongue and high AQP5 in salivary gland. Trained human tasting panels evaluated astringency intensities; results correlated with wine tannin measures and inhibition of AQP1 water flux ( ≥ 0.