The effect of aspartame consumption on body weight and ADH1, ADH4, ADH3 gene expression in mice

Introduction: Aspartame is widely used artificial sweetener. It may assist in weight management, prevention of dental caries, control of blood glucose of diabetics, and also can be used to replace sugar in foods. One of it's metabolite product is methanol which converts into formaldehyde due to alcohol dehydrogenase. Formaldehyde is a highly reactive small molecule containing active hydrogen atoms, which strongly bind to proteins and nucleic acids in form of adducts.

Methods: CBA/CA mice were fed by table top sweetener aspartame with the maximum daily intake for 14 weeks, then in another experiment for 25 weeks. We measured food intake and body weight once a week, water and solution of aspartame intake two times a week. The data were analysed by statistical method T-probe.

The expression of alteration of Adh1, Adh4, Adh3 genes were investigated in the liver, kidneys and in the bone marrow. Results: Consumption of aspartame resulted in significantly increased body weight in the longer term experiment. Expression patterns of the investigated genes differed in the shorter term experiment and in the longer term experiment. Remarkable overexpression of all genes was detected in the liver during the longer term experiment in all treated groups of both sexes. Conclusion: Our outcome may be hypothesized that the longer term exposure of aspartame increased more the investigated gene expression.

Aspartame is a very popular sweetener it must be clear that consumption of foods and drinks with aspartame are safe and do not have adverse health effects.