Table_2_Maternal Exposure to Non-nutritive Sweeteners Impacts Progeny’s Metabolism and Microbiome.XLSX

Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) are marketed as sugar alternatives providing sweet taste with few or no calories. Yet their consumption has been linked to metabolic dysfunction and changes in the gut microbiome. NNS exposure mostly originates from diet beverages and sweetener packages in adults or breastmilk in infants. Consequences of early life exposure remain largely unknown. We exposed pregnant and lactating mice to NNS (sucralose, acesulfame-K) at doses relevant for human consumption. While the pups’ exposure was low, metabolic changes were drastic, indicating extensive downregulation of hepatic detoxification mechanisms and changes in bacterial metabolites. Microbiome profiling confirmed a significant increase in firmicutes and a striking decrease of Akkermansia muciniphila. Similar microbiome alterations in humans have been linked to metabolic disease and obesity. While our findings need to be reproduced in humans, they suggest that NNS consumption during pregnancy and lactation may have adverse effects on infant metabolism.

非营养甜味剂（Non-nutritive sweeteners，NNS）作为糖类替代品被推向市场，可提供甜味且仅含极少热量或不含热量。然而，其摄入已被证实与代谢功能异常及肠道微生物组改变相关。成人接触非营养甜味剂的主要来源为无糖饮品与甜味剂包装产品，婴幼儿则多通过母乳暴露于此类物质。生命早期接触非营养甜味剂的后果目前仍知之甚少。本研究让妊娠和泌乳小鼠接触符合人类食用剂量的非营养甜味剂：三氯蔗糖（sucralose）与乙酰磺胺酸钾（acesulfame-K，又称安赛蜜）。尽管幼崽的暴露剂量较低，但代谢变化却极为显著，提示肝脏解毒机制受到广泛下调，同时细菌代谢产物也发生了改变。微生物组谱分析证实，厚壁菌门（Firmicutes）丰度显著升高，而嗜黏蛋白阿克曼氏菌（Akkermansia muciniphila）丰度则大幅降低。人类中出现的类似微生物组改变，已被证实与代谢性疾病及肥胖相关。尽管本研究的发现尚需在人类群体中重复验证，但结果表明，妊娠及泌乳期间摄入非营养甜味剂，可能会对婴儿的代谢健康产生不良影响。