Artificial sweetener may damage DNA

A compound found in a common artificial sweetener can cause damage to DNA in human cells.

Sucralose, a chemical used in the artificial sweetener Splenda, is added to thousands of food and drink products. Sucralose tastes much sweeter than sugar, and allows retailers to advertise products as healthier, sugar-free alternatives. New research suggests that sucralose-6-acetate, an intermediate compound produced in the body when sucralose is digested, may be harmful to gut health, causing a number of adverse health effects. Furthermore, trace amounts of the compound were also found in sucralose, before digestion.

Dr Susan Schiffman from North Carolina State University and corresponding author of the study told Medical News Today: 'the most compelling finding was that a contaminant and metabolite of sucralose could damage DNA in human blood cells and express genes in human gut epithelium that can induce inflammation and even cancer'.

To investigate the effect of sucralose in the gut, and publishing their findings in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, the researchers exposed human epithelial tissue to solutions of sucralose and sucralose-6-acetate. RNA sequencing was used to analyse changes in gene expression that occurred when cells were exposed to these compounds.

Exposure to the artificial sweetener increased the expression of genes associated with inflammation and oxidative stress, which can, in turn, increase the risk of conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Damage to the intestinal barrier was also observed.

Increased expression of genes associated with the development of colon, kidney, gallbladder and liver cancers was also seen.

Sucralose is present in many food and drink products. However, this study tested the exposure of human gut cells to sucralose and sucralose-6-acetate solution in lab-based experiments only. Sucralose-6-acetate makes up just 0.67 percent of sucralose-based sweeteners, and the amount that is produced in the human gut when sucralose is consumed is unknown. Further work will be needed to understand the effects on the gut of a living person.

The European Food Safety Authority has a threshold for all substances that damage DNA of 0.15 micrograms per person per day. Dr Schiffman confirmed that 'Our work suggests that the trace amounts of sucralose-6-acetate in a single, daily sucralose-sweetened drink exceed that threshold.'

Dr John Diamanos from Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, who was not involved in the study said the findings '… do not practically reflect what occasional or even frequent ingestion of sucralose-sweetened food and beverages have on health'.

The researchers plan to next study the effects of sucralose combined with acesulfame-K, another artificial sweetener commonly found in products containing sucralose. Human trials will be needed in the future to assess the relationship between sweeteners and adverse health effects in vivo.

'… it will be difficult to establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between sucralose-6-acetate and cancer because of the multifactorial dimension of cancer.' said Dr Danielle Leonardo, a specialist in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology in Calabarzon, Phillipines. 'Still, this data already suggests that the public be more careful in taking these artificial sweeteners and shift to other 'safer' alternatives'.