Sucralose increases cancer risk and causes leaky gut

[NHE]

Sucralose Sugar Substitute May Damage Your DNA and Increase Your Cancer Risk

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/ ... ancer-risk

• A new study finds that a type of common sweetener may damage your DNA.

• The zero-calorie sweetener in question is sucralose, which is about 600 times sweeter than table sugar.

• The new study found that sucralose may lead to a leaky gut lining, and increase the activity of genes related to inflammation and cancer.

A study from researchers at North Carolina State University suggests that a chemical formed from one artificial sweetener might also damage our DNA.

The zero-calorie sweetener in question is sucralose, which is about 600 times sweeter than table sugar.

The World Health Organization recently recommended against using certain sugar substitutes to help lose weight, saying there is little evidence of long-term benefit.

Sucralose, known in the United States by the brand name Splenda, is used in thousands of products, including baked goods, beverages, chewing gum, gelatins and frozen dairy desserts.

In addition to DNA damage, the new study found that sucralose may lead to a leaky gut lining, and increase the activity of genes related to inflammation and cancer.

The findings from this study “raise health and safety concerns regarding the continued presence of sucralose in the food supply,” the authors wrote May 29 in a paper published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B.

Potential impacts of sucralose on health

Regulatory approval of sucralose is based on studies that assume that it passes through the body unchanged.

But the authors of the new study point to earlier research showing that certain gut bacteria can transform sucralose into a similar molecule called sucralose-6-acetate.

This compound is also found in small amounts in some commercial sucralose products, they added, a byproduct of the manufacturing process.

A spokesperson for Splenda, one of the most frequently marketed forms of sucralose in the United States, said “we rigorously and routinely test and monitor for any impurities in our products … We can confirm that sucralose-6-acetate is not present in Splenda Brand sucralose.”

The researchers did not test Splenda sucralose products in their study, the company spokesperson confirmed.

In the new study, when researchers exposed human blood cells to sucralose-6-acetate, they found that it caused breaks in DNA. This could potentially increase the risk of cancer or other health problems.

Regulatory agencies such as the European Food Safety Authority set maximum levels of sucralose-6-acetate allowed in food products.

However, the amount of this chemical in a single serving of a sucralose-containing beverage could be high enough to potentially damage DNA, the authors of the new study pointed out.

People may also be exposed to even higher levels when gut bacteria convert sucralose into sucralose-6-acetate, they said.

Additional lab-based experiments carried out by the researchers raised other concerns about the potential impact of this chemical on the body.

In one test, researchers exposed human intestinal tissue to sucralose-6-acetate, finding that it increased the activation of genes associated with inflammation, oxidative stress. and cancer.

They also found that sucralose-6-acetate — and sucralose itself — damaged the junctions that hold together the cells that line the human intestines, causing the gut to become leaky.

This might allow gut microbes and molecules to move from the gut into the body, including ones that would normally pass out of the body in the feces.

A leaky gut is associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and may contribute to chronic liver disease.

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[NHE]

Toxicological and pharmacokinetic properties of sucralose-6-acetate and its parent sucralose: in vitro screening assays
J of Tox and Enviro Health, Part B, May 29, 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the toxicological and pharmacokinetic properties of sucralose-6-acetate, a structural analog of the artificial sweetener sucralose. Sucralose-6-acetate is an intermediate and impurity in the manufacture of sucralose, and recent commercial sucralose samples were found to contain up to 0.67% sucralose-6-acetate. Studies in a rodent model found that sucralose-6-acetate is also present in fecal samples with levels up to 10% relative to sucralose which suggest that sucralose is also acetylated in the intestines. A MultiFlow® assay, a high-throughput genotoxicity screening tool, and a micronucleus (MN) test that detects cytogenetic damage both indicated that sucralose-6-acetate is genotoxic. The mechanism of action was classified as clastogenic (produces DNA strand breaks) using the MultiFlow® assay. The amount of sucralose-6-acetate in a single daily sucralose-sweetened drink might far exceed the threshold of toxicological concern for genotoxicity (TTCgenotox) of 0.15 µg/person/day. The RepliGut® System was employed to expose human intestinal epithelium to sucralose-6-acetate and sucralose, and an RNA-seq analysis was performed to determine gene expression induced by these exposures. Sucralose-6-acetate significantly increased the expression of genes associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, and cancer with greatest expression for the metallothionein 1 G gene (MT1G). Measurements of transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and permeability in human transverse colon epithelium indicated that sucralose-6-acetate and sucralose both impaired intestinal barrier integrity. Sucralose-6-acetate also inhibited two members of the cytochrome P450 family (CYP1A2 and CYP2C19). Overall, the toxicological and pharmacokinetic findings for sucralose-6-acetate raise significant health concerns regarding the safety and regulatory status of sucralose itself.

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