Consuming artificial sweeteners may alter the structure and function of duodenal microbial communities

• Published in: iScience 2023-12, Vol.26 (12), p.108530-108530, Article 108530
• Main Authors: Hosseini, Ava, Barlow, Gillian M., Leite, Gabriela, Rashid, Mohamad, Parodi, Gonzalo, Wang, Jiajing, Morales, Walter, Weitsman, Stacy, Rezaie, Ali, Pimentel, Mark, Mathur, Ruchi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Health sciences; Microbiome
• ISSN: 2589-0042; 2589-0042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108530

Studies using stool samples suggest that non-sugar sweetener (NSS) consumption affects gut microbiome composition. However, stool does not represent the entire gut. We analyzed the duodenal luminal microbiome in subjects consuming non-aspartame non-sugar sweeteners (NANS, N = 35), aspartame only (ASP, N = 9), and controls (CON, N = 55) and the stool microbiome in a subset (N = 40). Duodenal alpha diversity was decreased in NANS vs. CON. Duodenal relative abundance (RA) of Escherichia, Klebsiella, and Salmonella (all phylum Proteobacteria) was lower in both NANS and ASP vs. CON, whereas stool RA of Escherichia, Klebsiella, and Salmonella was increased in both NANS and ASP vs. CON. Predicted duodenal microbial metabolic pathways altered in NANS vs. CON included polysaccharides biosynthesis and D-galactose degradation, whereas cylindrospermopsin biosynthesis was significantly enriched in ASP vs. CON. These findings suggest that consuming non-sugar sweeteners may significantly alter microbiome composition and function in the metabolically active small bowel, with different alterations seen in stool. [Display omitted] •We examined non-aspartame non-sugar sweeteners (NANS) and aspartame (ASP) consumers•Duodenal alpha diversity is lower in NANS consumers vs. controls•Duodenal Escherichia, Klebsiella, and Salmonella are less abundant in NANS and ASP•Duodenal cylindrospermopsin biosynthesis is significantly enriched in ASP consumers Health sciences; Microbiome