Artificial sweeteners and bladder cancer.
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Female↗
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Use of artificial sweeteners to promote alcohol consumption by rats.
Cirrhosis may be reliably produced in rats by exposing them intermittently to low levels of carbon tetrachloride vapour while feeding alcohol in the Lieber-DeCarli liquid diet. Providing the alcohol in drinking water that has been sweetened with sucrose is a cheaper and more convenient method but it does not yield reliable results. This study aimed to determine whether alcohol in drinking water sweetened with artificial sweeteners would give adequate alcohol intake to achieve the desired hepatic effects. Rats were fed alcohol (8% v/v) in drinking water sweetened with sucrose (5% w/v) (n = 12), or with one of the artificial sweeteners aspartame (0.025%), saccharin (0.025%) or cyclamate (0.05%) (n = 8 per agent). During the alcohol treatment the animals were exposed to carbon tetrachloride vapour, 40 ppm, six hours per night for five nights per week, over a period of 14 weeks. All groups achieved good alcohol intakes of 5-6 g/kg/day. Only one rat, in the aspartame group, became cirrhotic; all the others had varying degrees of fibrosis which did not differ significantly among the treatments. Although it was not effective in reliably achieving cirrhosis, sweetening the alcohol solution with artificial sweeteners led to reasonable alcohol intakes with resultant hepatic fibrosis, and without the high carbohydrate intake which occurs when sucrose is used.
Alcohol Drinking↗
[Effect of selected antioxidants, dyes and artificial sweetening agents on metabolic processes of animal cells in vitro. II. Effect of dyes and artificial sweetening agents].
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Animals↗
Artificial sweeteners--do they bear a carcinogenic risk?
Artificial sweeteners are added to a wide variety of food, drinks, drugs and hygiene products. Since their introduction, the mass media have reported about potential cancer risks, which has contributed to undermine the public's sense of security. It can be assumed that every citizen of Western countries uses artificial sweeteners, knowingly or not. A cancer-inducing activity of one of these substances would mean a health risk to an entire population. We performed several PubMed searches of the National Library of Medicine for articles in English about artificial sweeteners. These articles included 'first generation' sweeteners such as saccharin, cyclamate and aspartame, as well as 'new generation' sweeteners such as acesulfame-K, sucralose, alitame and neotame. Epidemiological studies in humans did not find the bladder cancer-inducing effects of saccharin and cyclamate that had been reported from animal studies in rats. Despite some rather unscientific assumptions, there is no evidence that aspartame is carcinogenic. Case-control studies showed an elevated relative risk of 1.3 for heavy artificial sweetener use (no specific substances specified) of >1.7 g/day. For new generation sweeteners, it is too early to establish any epidemiological evidence about possible carcinogenic risks. As many artificial sweeteners are combined in today's products, the carcinogenic risk of a single substance is difficult to assess. However, according to the current literature, the possible risk of artificial sweeteners to induce cancer seems to be negligible.
Aspartame↗
Usefulness of artificial sweeteners for body weight control.
Artificial sweeteners provide lower calorie food products but have been thought to increase appetite and perhaps lead to increased body weight compared with high-sucrose foods. A recent trial demonstrated that subjects supplementing their diets with artificially sweetened foods lost weight, whereas those consuming high-sucrose foods gained weight. This review sheds some light on the controversy regarding the effects of artificial sweeteners in body weight control.
Animals↗
[Artificial sweeteners--are they potentially carcinogenic?].
BACKGROUND: Artificial sweeteners have rapidly evolved over the last 20 years and are added to a broad variety of food, drinks, drugs, and hygiene products. Since their introduction, especially mass media have reported about potential cancer risks, which has attributed to undermine the people's sense of security. It can be assumed that every citizen of the western countries is using artificial sweeteners--knowingly or not. A cancer-inducing activity of one of these substances would mean a health risk to an entire population. STUDIES: This article gives an overview about the most important publications dealing with the cancerogenic potential of artificial sweeteners.
Animals↗
Selective continuous monitoring and analysis of mixtures of acesulfame-K, cyclamate, and saccharin in artificial sweetener tablets, diet soft drinks, yogurts, and wines using filter-supported bilayer lipid membranes.
This work describes a technique for the rapid and sensitive electrochemical flow injection monitoring and analysis of mixtures of the artificial sweeteners acesulfame-K, cyclamate, and saccharin using stabilized systems of filter-supported bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs). Injections of artificial sweeteners were made into flowing streams of a carrier electrolyte solution, and a transient current signal with duration of seconds reproducibly appeared in less than < 1 min after exposure of the lipid membranes to the artificial sweeteners. The magnitude of this signal was linearly related to the concentration of artificial sweeteners, which could be determined at micromolar levels. Repetitive cycles of injection of artificial sweeteners have shown no signal degradation during each cycle (30 sequential injections). The time of appearance of the transient response was different for each artificial sweetener and increased in the order of cyclamic acid, acesulfame-K, and saccharin. The difference in time of response has allowed selective detection and analysis of these artificial sweeteners in mixtures. The effect of potent interferences, including a wide range of compounds usually found in foods, proteins, and lipids was investigated. The results showed no interferences from these constituents of real food samples. The major interference from proteins (most common in lipid-film-based biosensors) can be eliminated by modulation of the carrier solution that does not allow adsorption of these compounds in BLMs. The technique was applied in real food samples, that is, in artificial sweetener tablets, diet soft drinks, wines, and yogurts that contain mixtures of these artificial sweeteners with aspartame and other compounds. A comparison of results using the present method and that of an Official Method of Analysis showed good agreement between the two methods.
Beverages↗
Artificial sweeteners and human bladder cancer. Preliminary results.
3010 patients with cancer of the urinary bladder and 5783 controls drawn from the general population of ten geographic areas of the U.S.A. were interviewed. Subjects who reported over having used artificial sweeteners or artificially sweetened foods or beverages showed no elevation in risk. However, positive associations between various measures of use of artificial sweeteners and risk of bladder cancer were seen in several subgroups. Inconsistencies in the data suggest that the positive associations may be due to chance, but it is noteworthy that the subgroups were those chosen, a priori, to test hypotheses derived from laboratory experiments.
Adult↗
Artificial sweeteners and lower urinary tract cancer: hospital vs. population controls.
In a case-control study conducted in 1978 in Detroit, Michigan, as part of the National Bladder Cancer Study, the proportions of artificial sweetener users in a hospital and a population control series were compared. The study was based on interviews with 305 hospital controls and 440 population controls, as well as 391 patients with transitional or squamous cell carcinoma of the lower urinary tract. The proportion of artificial sweetener users among all hospital controls was higher than that among population controls. Among male hospital controls, it was found that 44% had ever used artificial sweeteners, compared to 38% of the male population controls. For females, the corresponding proportions of artificial sweetener users were 55% and 42%. Thus, relative risks estimated using all hospital controls were lower than relative risks estimated using population controls. When controls hospitalized for obesity-related diseases were excluded from the hospital control group, the proportion of artificial sweetener users and the relative risks for males were identical to those estimated with population controls (relative risk = 1.1). These results suggest that restriction of the control group to those patients hospitalized for non-obesity related diseases is a satisfactory procedure for selecting a control group in hospital-based studies of the effects of artificial sweeteners. For females, little or no change in the proportion of artificial sweetener users or in the relative risks was observed after exclusion of controls hospitalized for obesity-related diseases. However, the number of female subjects was small, and the results noted for females may have been due to chance.
Adult↗
Artificial sweetener use among individuals with eating disorders.
UNLABELLED: Women with eating disorders report using large quantities of artificially sweetened products, but this has not been quantified. OBJECTIVE: The authors assessed the use of selected artificially sweetened low-calorie products among women with eating disorders compared with controls. METHOD: Thirty women with anorexia nervosa (18 with the restricting subtype [AN-R] and 12 with the binge/purge subtype [AN-B/P]), 48 women with bulimia nervosa (BN), and 32 healthy control women completed a survey of frequency and amount of consumption of chewing gum, artificially sweetened low-calorie beverages, and packets of artificial sweetener in the previous month. RESULTS: A greater proportion of women with AN-B/P and BN reported use of each product, compared with women with AN-R and control participants. Among product users, patients with eating disorders reported using greater amounts than controls. Among patients who reported binge eating and/or purging, the quantity of each product used was inversely correlated with body mass index (BMI). CONCLUSION: These data suggest an increased drive for sweet orosensory stimulation in women with AN and BN.
Adult↗
Artificial sweeteners and cancer of the lower urinary tract.
We evaluated the relation between cancer of the lower urinary tract and the use of artificial sweeteners in a case-control study of 592 patients with lower-urinary-tract cancer (94 per cent of whom had a bladder tumor) and 536 controls chosen from the general population of the study area. A history of use or artificial sweeteners and exposure to other known or suspected risk factors was determined by interview. In those who had used dietetic beverages and in those who had used sugar substitutes, the relative risk of lower-urinary-tract cancer was estimated as 0.9 (0.7 to 1.2, 95 per cent confidence interval), as compared with 1 in nonusers of artificial sweeteners. Among men, the relative risk was 0.8 (0.6 to 1.1) in those who had used dietetic beverages and 0.8 (0.5 to 1.1) in those who had used sugar substitutes. Among women, the corresponding relative risks were 1.6 (0.9 to 2.7) and 1.5 (0.9 to 2.6). Increasing frequency of duration of use of artificial sweeteners was not consistently associated with increasing relative risk. This study suggests that, as a group, users of artificial sweeteners have little or no excess risks of cancer of the lower urinary tract.
Adult↗
Artificial sweeteners and absence of bladder cancer risk in Copenhagen.
During the years 1979 to 1981 a population-based case-control study of bladder cancer including papillomas was performed in Greater Copenhagen. After exclusions some 388 patients (290 males; 98 females) and an age- and sex-matched group of 787 controls (592 males; 195 females) remained for analysis. Controls were selected at random from the general population of the study area. All persons were interviewed concerning use of artificial sweeteners in addition to their exposure to a number of other known or suspected risk factors for bladder cancer. Fifty-five male bladder cancer patients (19.4%) and 150 controls (25.7%) had at some time used artificial sweeteners regularly. Among females 27.1% of cases and 25.9% of controls regularly used sweeteners. In neither sex was the relative risk significantly increased in users compared with non-users of artificial sweeteners. The relative risk of 0.78 in the two sexes combined was not significantly different from 1.0 (95% C.I.: 0.58-1.05). There was no indication of a regular increase in risk with increasing daily consumption of table-top sweeteners nor was there any indication of an increase in risk with a duration of regular use of artificial sweeteners. Taking into account a possible latency period between first regular use and bladder cancer development did not change the finding of an absence of association between use of artificial sweeteners and the risk of bladder cancer. Neither saccharine nor cyclamate users had an increased risk of bladder cancer. This population-based case-control investigation provides further evidence that it is highly unlikely that the consumption of artificial sweeteners has contributed to current bladder cancer rates in man.
Beverages↗
Sucrose compared with artificial sweeteners: different effects on ad libitum food intake and body weight after 10 wk of supplementation in overweight subjects.
BACKGROUND: The role of artificial sweeteners in body-weight regulation is still unclear. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effect of long-term supplementation with drinks and foods containing either sucrose or artificial sweeteners on ad libitum food intake and body weight in overweight subjects. DESIGN: For 10 wk, overweight men and women consumed daily supplements of either sucrose [n = 21, body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)) = 28.0] or artificial sweeteners (n = 20, BMI = 27.6). On average, sucrose supplements provided 3.4 MJ and 152 g sucrose/d and sweetener supplements provided 1.0 MJ and 0 g sucrose/d. RESULTS: After 10 wk, the sucrose group had increases in total energy (by 1.6 MJ/d), sucrose (to 28% of energy), and carbohydrate intakes and decreases in fat and protein intakes. The sweetener group had small but significant decreases in sucrose intake and energy density. Body weight and fat mass increased in the sucrose group (by 1.6 and 1.3 kg, respectively) and decreased in the sweetener group (by 1.0 and 0.3 kg, respectively); the between-group differences were significant at P < 0.001 (body weight) and P < 0.01 (fat mass). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased in the sucrose group (by 3.8 and 4.1 mm Hg, respectively) and decreased in the sweetener group (by 3.1 and 1.2 mm Hg, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Overweight subjects who consumed fairly large amounts of sucrose (28% of energy), mostly as beverages, had increased energy intake, body weight, fat mass, and blood pressure after 10 wk. These effects were not observed in a similar group of subjects who consumed artificial sweeteners.
Adult↗
Adherence of Streptococcus mutans to smooth surfaces in the presence of artificial sweeteners.
The adherence of Streptococcus mutans to smooth glass surfaces was studied in the presence of the artificial sweeteners, saccharin, acesulfame K and aspartame. The cells were grown aerobically in 2% yeast extract, 1% sucrose medium with artificial sweetener added in concentrations from 0.02 to 20.00 mg/ml. The artificial sweeteners tested reduced overall growth (adherent plus suspended cells), but observed growth was in favour of the adherent cells. As compared to the control optimum adherence was obtained using 2 mg/ml sodium saccharin, 2 to 20 mg/ml acesulfame K and 4 mg/ml aspartame.
Adhesiveness↗
Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatographic determination of artificial sweeteners in low-Joule soft drinks and other foods.
A rapid method for the determination of artificial sweeteners in low-Joule soft drinks and other foods by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) is described. Caffeine, benzoic acid and sorbic acid, which are often added to soft drinks, can also be determined with this procedure. The artificial sweeteners, aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, alitame and dulcin, and the other food additives are well separated in less than 12 min using an uncoated fused-silica capillary column with a buffer consisting of 0.05 M sodium deoxycholate, 0.01 M potassium dihydrogenorthophosphate, 0.01 M sodium borate operating at 20 kV. Dehydroacetic acid was used as the internal standard for the determinations. The levels of artificial sweeteners, preservatives and caffeine were in good agreement with those determined by the high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedure currently used in our Laboratory. The MEKC procedure has the same order of repeatability, is faster and less costly to operate than the HPLC method.
Beverages↗
Physiological effects of sucrose substitutes and artificial sweeteners on growth pattern and acid production of glucose-grown Streptococcus mutans strains in vitro.
The synergistic effects of four sucrose substitutes, polysorbate and five artificial sweeteners were studied in vitro on growth pattern and acid production of seven glucose-grown Streptococcus mutans strains, representing the five serological groups after Bratthall. Four distinct growth patterns during glucose fermentation were observed: high rate of growth with low acid production, moderate growth rate with moderate acid production, moderate growth rate with high acid production, and slow rate of growth with moderate acid production. Depending on the strain used, the final OD at 546 nm ranged from 0.55 to 0.99 and the final pH of the medium varied between 4.65 and 4.15. While added sucrose substitutes, with exceptions, usually enhanced growth rate, most artificial sweeteners suppressed or, at higher concentrations, even inhibited growth of S. mutans; addition of polysorbate to the medium always increased growth rate of S. mutans significantly. The presence of sucrose substitutes during glucose fermentation had no effect on final pH of the medium, but addition of artificial sweeteners, especially sodium saccharin, elevated final pH up to 1.8 units. The observed physiological patterns and differences within the several strains of S. mutans during glucose fermentation in vitro do not necessarily relate to the five serological groups of the species.
Fructose↗
Artificial sweetener use and one-year weight change among women.
Weight change over a 1-year period was examined in a highly homogeneous group of 78,694 women ages 50-69 enrolled in a prospective mortality study. Artificial sweetener usage increased with relative weight and decreased with age. Users were significantly more likely than nonusers to gain weight, regardless of initial weight. Average weight gains or losses by artificial sweetener users differed by less than 2 pounds from gains or losses among nonusers. These results were not explicable by differences in food consumption patterns. The data do not support the hypothesis that long-term artificial sweetener use either helps weight loss or prevents weight gain.
Aged↗
Artificial sweetener use and bladder cancer: a case-control study.
In a case-control study of 302 male and 65 female bladder cancer patients and an equal number of other patients matched to them in age, sex, hospital, and hospital-room status, no association was found between use of artificial sweeteners or diet beverages and bladder cancer. No dose-response was observed with respect to quantity or duration of use of the two combined. No evidence was found to suggest that artificial sweeteners or diet beverages promote the tumorigenic effect of tobacco smoking. Artificial sweetener and diet beverage use strongly reflected socioeconomic status among controls with various diagnoses.
Female↗