Bitter Taste Receptors on the Skin and in the Gut -- Nicotine Effects




(Credit: <a href="https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/bitter">Bitter Vectors by Vecteezy</a>)




Watching this video on the history of Bitter taste receptors that are also present in the gut and on the skin got me thinking.... More questions than answers. Let me know if you have any of the answers so I can update this post!

Some background to follow my thinking:

  • Nicotine is bitter.
  • About 10% of those who use low-dose nicotine patches (according to our current research) experience skin irritation.
  • Low-dose nicotine collects at high rates in the gut when it comes from a patch -- as much as 80x compared to the amount in the bloodstream. Thus the digestive side effects even in smokers when the dose of patches is too high.
  • Bitterness is not always bad, but evolution taught us that bitterness = danger. This is dying out in humans.
  • The bitterness receptors in the gut don't connect with the brain directly like in the mouth. Their reaction is more local.
  • This might explain why changing the placement of the patch to other parts of the body can sometimes reduce or eliminate skin issues. The bottom of the foot has fewer issues... Does this mean the sole is less likely to have bitter taste receptors?
Questions that need answers

Is there a connection between the bitterness receptors and MCAS or allergic reactions in the gut and on the skin?

Could this knowledge be harnessed to make low-dose nicotine patches that do not cause gut or skin issues?... or possibly an adjunct therapy to reduce the local reaction on the skin or in the gut?

Might this be one reason that the placebo and nocebo effects seem to be so important in how people react to low-dose nicotine patches when they start? 

Could a specific prebiotic or probiotic help?

Do skin or digestive reactions to nicotine patches suggest a likely direction of treatment for LongCovid or MECFS which would be especially beneficial for this subgroup?

What about spontaneous skin reactions that happen after weeks or months of patching without side effects?

Is there a correlation between enjoying bitter tastes (eg. arugula, kale, and black coffee) and how people respond to nicotine patches?

Thanks for reading!

D. Troy Roach

Take care of yourself, and if you can, someone else too! --Stephen Dubner

Linktr.ee/TheNicotineTest 


PS...

I tried but I failed to create an AI image with Gemini and Chat GPT. See below if you want a good laugh/cry. We still have a long way to go!


The worst is the fact that ChatGPT couldn't create an image about nicotine without smoking... even after multiple attempts at a correction. This is visible proof of the decades of research which wrongly correlates smoking with nicotine.


One of ChatGPT's Fails:


GPT fail
(18-03-2025 ... An AI image fail! Chat GPT failed to distinguish between nicotine, the nicotine patch and smoking ... And there appears to be no way to get it to correct for this!)













One of Gemini's Fails:



(18-03-2025 ... An AI image fail! Gemini couldn't make a nicotine patch so it used a bandaid ... And there appears to be no way to get it to use zero text or to avoid gibberish!)

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