Abstract
The effects of non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) on the gut microbiota are an area of increasing research interest due to their potential influence on weight gain, insulin resistance, and inflammation. Studies have shown that mice and rats fed saccharin develop weight gain and metabolic alterations, possibly related to changes in gut microbiota. Here, we hypothesized that chronic exposure to a commercial NNS would change the gut microbiota composition in Wistar rats when compared to sucrose exposure. To test this hypothesis, Wistar rats were fed either NNS- or sucrose-supplemented yogurt for 17 weeks alongside standard chow (ad libitum). The gut microbiome was assessed by 16S rDNA deep sequencing. Assembly and quantification were conducted using the Brazilian Microbiome Project pipeline for Ion Torrent data with modifications. Statistical analyses were performed in the R software environment. We found that chronic feeding of a commercial NNS-sweetened yogurt to Wistar rats, within the recommended dose range, did not significantly modify gut microbiota composition in comparison to sucrose-sweetened yogurt. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that moderate exposure to NNS is associated with changes in gut microbiota pattern compared to sucrose, at least in this experimental model.
Highlights
Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) impart a sweet taste to foodstuffs without adding caloric value, and are widely used in the management of overweight, glucose intolerance, and other metabolic diseases (Fitch et al, 2012)
We found that rats fed an isocaloric diet supplemented with commercial NNS gained more weight than rats fed a sucrose-supplemented diet (Feijó et al, 2013; Pinto et al, 2017) or a non-sweetened diet (Foletto et al, 2016)
Yogurt intake was similar in the NNS- and SUCsupplemented groups over the 17-week study period
Summary
Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) impart a sweet taste to foodstuffs without adding caloric value, and are widely used in the management of overweight, glucose intolerance, and other metabolic diseases (Fitch et al, 2012). This class of molecules was first considered inert, but chronic consumption has raised concerns regarding user health and environmental safety (Pepino, 2015; Praveena et al, 2018). The balance between resident microorganisms may predispose the host to weight gain by facilitating recovery of nutrients from food (Turnbaugh et al, 2006). Some studies have shown that the gut microbiome is disturbed by chronic exposure to several NNS, including acesulfame potassium, aspartame, cyclamate, neotame, saccharin, sucralose, and steviol glycosides (Lobach et al, 2018)
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