Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Suez, Jotham
• Korem, Tal
• Zeevi, David
• Zilberman-Schapira, Gili
• Thaiss, Christoph A.
• Maza, Ori
• Israeli, David
• Zmora, Niv
• Gilad, Shlomit
• Weinberger, Adina
• Kuperman, Yael
• Harmelin, Alon
• Kolodkin-Gal, Ilana
• Shapiro, Hagit
• Halpern, Zamir
• Segal, Eran
• Elinav, Eran

Titel

Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota

Ist Teil von

• Nature (London), 2014-10, Vol.514 (7521), p.181-186

Ort / Verlag

London: Nature Publishing Group UK

Erscheinungsjahr

2014

Quelle

PBSC : Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection - Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Non-caloric artificial sweeteners (NAS) are among the most widely used food additives worldwide, regularly consumed by lean and obese individuals alike. NAS consumption is considered safe and beneficial owing to their low caloric content, yet supporting scientific data remain sparse and controversial. Here we demonstrate that consumption of commonly used NAS formulations drives the development of glucose intolerance through induction of compositional and functional alterations to the intestinal microbiota. These NAS-mediated deleterious metabolic effects are abrogated by antibiotic treatment, and are fully transferrable to germ-free mice upon faecal transplantation of microbiota configurations from NAS-consuming mice, or of microbiota anaerobically incubated in the presence of NAS. We identify NAS-altered microbial metabolic pathways that are linked to host susceptibility to metabolic disease, and demonstrate similar NAS-induced dysbiosis and glucose intolerance in healthy human subjects. Collectively, our results link NAS consumption, dysbiosis and metabolic abnormalities, thereby calling for a reassessment of massive NAS usage. Non-caloric artificial sweeteners (NAS), widely used food additives considered to be safe and beneficial alternatives to sugars, are shown here to lead to the development of glucose intolerance through compositional and functional changes in the gut microbiota of mice, and the deleterious metabolic effects are transferred to germ-free mice by faecal transplant; NAS-induced dysbiosis and glucose intolerance are also demonstrated in healthy human subjects. Damaging effects of artificial sweeteners We have been using non-caloric artificial sweeteners for more than a century. Today the food industry is using them in ever-greater quantities in 'diet' foodstuffs and they are recommended for weight loss and for individuals with glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Eran Elinav and colleagues show that consumption of the three most commonly used non-caloric artificial sweeteners — saccharin, sucralose and aspartame — directly induces a propensity for obesity and glucose intolerance in mice. These effects are mediated by changes in the composition and function of the intestinal microbiota; deleterious metabolic effects can be transferred to germ-free mice by faecal transplantation and can be abrogated by antibiotic treatment. The authors demonstrate that artificial sweeteners can induce dysbiosis and glucose intolerance in healthy human subjects, and suggest that it may be necessary to develop new nutritional strategies tailored to the individual and to variations in the gut microbiota.