Commercial Artificial Sweeteners Affect Spermatogenesis in Mice

Abstract

The use of artificial sweeteners has increased in recent years. More young people are using them as a non- caloric sweetener in coffee or tea. They are also present in many manufactured food products such as biscuits and cakes. Many studies explored the potential biological effects of artificial sweeteners. However, most studies explored single types of artificial sweeteners, while very few were done on the actual commercial artificial sweeteners compounds present in the market and used the normal permitted daily dose. Spermatogenesis is one of the important biological functions that leads to the production of the male germ cells, the sperms. Studies showed that male infertility has increased in recent years. - The aim of this research was to study the effect of commercial artificial sweeteners on mouse spermatogenesis. Male albino mice were divided in two main groups: 1.Control group and 2.Treated group. Each group was then divided into 4 groups (C1,C2,C3 and C4) and (T1,T2,T3 and T4 ). Treated Swiss albino male mice were orally given 50mg/kg commercial artificial sweetener solution for four weeks. While the controls were given distilled water. Artificial sweeteners caused multiple malformations in spermatozoa such as a ring shape at the end of the sperm tail, coiled sperm, short tail and cytoplasmic droplet seen in the mid-piece compared to the controls. Alteration of spermatogenesis process was seen in treated testis histological sections compared to the controls, by the increased number of deformed seminiferous tubules, the shrinkage in their size and the disappearance of the membrane surrounding some of the seminiferous tubules causing their fusion. Our results showed that daily consumption of 50mg/kg of commercial artificial sweeteners affects the spermatogenesis process in mice and produces malformed sperms.