Tomsen N, Alvarez-Berdugo D, Rofes L, et al. - The researchers investigated the efficacy of TRPA1/M8 agonists as an acute therapeutic measure for improving swallowing function in oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) patients. They conducted a three-arm, quadruple-blind, randomized clinical trial including 58 patients with OD caused by aging, stroke, or neurodegenerative disease. Assessment of swallowing safety and efficacy and the kinematics of the swallow response was done via videofluoroscopy (VFS) during the swallow of 182 ± 2 mPa·s viscosity (nectar) boluses of a xanthan gum thickener supplemented with (a) 756.6 μmol/L cinnamaldehyde and 70 μmol/L zinc (CIN-Zn) (TRPA1 agonists), (b) 1.6 mmol/L citral (TRPA1 agonist), or (c) 1.6 mmol/L citral and 1.3 mmol/L isopulegol (TRPA1 and TRPM8 agonists). The patients exhibited significantly improved swallowing safety and the neurophysiology and biomechanics of the swallow response in correlation to receiving supplementation of the nectar bolus with cinnamaldehyde and zinc (CIN-Zn, TRPA1 agonists). In addition, CIN-Zn was identified as safe, palatable, and well-tolerated. On the other hand, a slight improvement in the swallow response, but with no significant effect on the VFS signs of safety impairments of OD, was observed in correlation to citral (TRPA1 agonist) and the combination of citral and isopulegol (TRPA1/M8 agonists). Results thereby indicate the benefits of utilizing the TRPA1 agonist CIN-Zn (756.6 μmol/L cinnamaldehyde and 70 μmol/L zinc) as an active treatment for OD when combined with a xanthan gum thickener at 182 ± 2 mPa·s viscosity.