Abstract
Stevia is a natural low-calorie sweetener that is growing in popularity in food and beverage products. Despite its widespread use, little is understood of its impact on the gut microbiota, an important environmental factor that can mediate metabolism and subsequent obesity and disease risk. Furthermore, given previous reports of dysbiosis with some artificial low-calorie sweeteners, we wanted to understand whether prebiotic consumption could rescue potential stevia-mediated changes in gut microbiota. Three-week old male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomized to consume: (1) Water (CTR); (2) Rebaudioside A (STV); (3) prebiotic (PRE); (4) Rebaudioside A + prebiotic (SP) (n = 8/group) for 9 weeks. Rebaudioside was added to drinking water and prebiotic oligofructose-enriched inulin added to control diet (10%). Body weight and feces were collected weekly and food and fluid intake biweekly. Oral glucose and insulin tolerance tests, gut permeability tests, dual X-ray absorptiometry, and tissue harvest were performed at age 12 weeks. Rebaudioside A consumption alone did not alter weight gain or glucose tolerance compared to CTR. Rebaudioside A did, however, alter gut microbiota composition and reduce nucleus accumbens tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine transporter mRNA levels compared to CTR. Prebiotic animals, alone or with Rebaudioside A, had reduced fat mass, food intake, and gut permeability and cecal SCFA concentration. Adding Rebaudioside A did not interfere with the benefits of the prebiotic except for a significant reduction in cecal weight. Long-term low-dose Rebaudioside A consumption had little effect on glucose metabolism and weight gain; however, its impact on gut microbial taxa should be further examined in populations exhibiting dysbiosis such as obesity.
Highlights
The global rate of obesity has increased dramatically in the past 30 years, and it is estimated that nearly 650 million adults and 124 million children and adolescents worldwide are living with thisNutrients 2019, 11, 1248; doi:10.3390/nu11061248 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrientsNutrients 2019, 11, 1248 chronic disease [1]
The current study found that young male rats consuming a low dose of Reb A for 9-weeks had altered gut microbiota composition and reduced expression of genes in the nucleus accumbens, a region that plays a key role in food seeking [29]
Our results suggest that prebiotic oligofructose-enriched inulin has a more prominent effect on body composition and glucose metabolism than RebA, even when consumed together
Summary
The global rate of obesity has increased dramatically in the past 30 years, and it is estimated that nearly 650 million adults and 124 million children and adolescents worldwide are living with thisNutrients 2019, 11, 1248; doi:10.3390/nu11061248 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrientsNutrients 2019, 11, 1248 chronic disease [1]. There has been steady and rapid growth of the availability and consumption of a “Western” diet with calorically dense food and beverage products high in fat and sugar [3]. Foods that characterize the Western diet are becoming increasingly available in developing countries alongside growing overweight and obesity rates [4]. To reduce the caloric content of certain food and beverage products, low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) are becoming increasingly popular and can be found in food products typically labelled “lite”,. There has been growing interest in and consumption of naturally occurring sweeteners, like stevia, perhaps in part due to consumer perception of the benefits and lack of risk around natural foods [5,6]. The sweetener stevia is found in perennial shrub species Stevia rebaudiana
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