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Impact of dietary sucralose and sucrose-sweetened water intake on lipid and glucose metabolism in male mice

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Abstract

Aims

Overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is associated with an increased risk of metabolic disorders, including obesity and diabetes. However, accumulating evidence also suggests the potential negative impact of consuming nonnutritive sweeteners (NNSs) on weight and glycaemic control. The metabolic effects of sucralose, the most widely used NNS, remain controversial. This study aimed to compare the impact of intake of dietary sucralose (acceptable daily intake dose, ADI dose) and sucrose-sweetened water (at the same sweetness level) on lipid and glucose metabolism in male mice.

Materials and methods

Sucralose (0.1 mg/mL) or sucrose (60 mg/mL) was added to the drinking water of 8-week-old male C57BL/6 mice for 16 weeks, followed by oral glucose and intraperitoneal insulin tolerance tests, and measurements of bone mineral density, plasma lipids, and hormones. After the mice were sacrificed, the duodenum and ileum were used for examination of sweet taste receptors (STRs) and glucose transporters.

Results

A significant increase in fat mass was observed in the sucrose group of mice after 16 weeks of sweetened water drinking. Sucrose consumption also led to increased levels of plasma LDL, insulin, lipid deposition in the liver, and increased glucose intolerance in mice. Compared with the sucrose group, mice consuming sucralose showed much lower fat accumulation, hyperlipidaemia, liver steatosis, and glucose intolerance. In addition, the daily dose of sucralose only had a moderate effect on T1R2/3 in the intestine, without affecting glucose transporters and plasma insulin levels.

Conclusion

Compared with mice consuming sucrose-sweetened water, daily drinking of sucralose within the ADI dose had a much lower impact on glucose and lipid homeostasis.

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Abbreviations

SSB:

Sugar-sweetened beverage

NNS:

Nonnutritive sweetener

ADI:

Acceptable daily intake

STRs:

Sweet taste receptors

FDA:

U.S. Food and Drug Administration

ADME:

Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion

NOAEL:

No observed adverse effect level

BMD:

Bone mineral density

RER:

Respiratory exchange ratio

PFA:

Paraformaldehyde

GTT:

Glucose tolerance test

ITT:

Insulin tolerance test

TC:

Total plasma cholesterol

TG:

Triglycerides

LDL:

Low-density lipoprotein

HDL:

High-density lipoprotein

FPKM:

Fragments per kilobase of transcript per million mapped reads

Hb1AC:

Blood haemoglobin A1c

GLUT2:

Glucose transporter 2

SGLT1:

Sodium/glucose cotransporter 1

T1R2/3:

Taste receptor type 1 member 2/3

GIP:

Glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide

GLP-1:

Glucagon-like peptide-1

AHA:

American Heart Association

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Acknowledgements

None.

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31972912, 82030026, and 31771666) the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology (No. BK20211153), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 020814380173).

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Author notes

  1. Xinyi Wu, Le Cui, Haoquan Wang and Jinhong Xu are contributed equally in this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, NJU Advanced Institute for Life Sciences (NAILS), Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Road, Nanjing, 210046, Jiangsu, China

    Xinyi Wu, Le Cui, Haoquan Wang, Jinhong Xu, Zhaozhao Zhong, Xibei Jia, Jiaqi Wang, Huahua Zhang, Yanteng Shi, Yuhang Tang, Qianhui Yang, Qiongdan Liang, Yujing Zhang, Jing Li & Xiaohong Jiang

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Contributions

Conceptualization: XJ, XW, LC and HW; investigation: XW, LC, HW, JX, ZZ, XJ, JW, HZ, YS, YT, QY and QL; writing of the manuscript: XJ, YZ, JL; funding acquisition: XJ, YZ, JL; supervision: XJ, YZ, JL.

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Correspondence to Yujing Zhang, Jing Li or Xiaohong Jiang.

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Wu, X., Cui, L., Wang, H. et al. Impact of dietary sucralose and sucrose-sweetened water intake on lipid and glucose metabolism in male mice. Eur J Nutr 62, 199–211 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-022-02980-2

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