Effect of Sucralose Intake on Human and Mouse/Rat Gut Microbiota Composition: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Sucralose is a popular nonnutritive sweetener. The association of sucralose with gut microbiota and its effect on body weight remains unclear; therefore, we examined the effect of sucralose on human and mouse/rat gut microbiota composition.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis by including clinical trials on the effect of sucralose on human and mouse/rat gut microbiota composition.

Results

Of nine studies, two were human trials, and seven were mouse/rat trials. In humans, sucralose intake resulted in significantly higher relative abundance of Bacteroidetes than controls (mean change in relative abundance = 0.24, P < 0.001); however, the converse was observed in mice/rats (mean change in relative abundance = −11.02,P = 0.01). The relative abundance of Actinobacteria significantly increased in humans after sucralose intake (mean change in relative abundance = 0.30, P < 0.01), and the relative abundance of Verrucomicrobia significantly decreased in mice/rats after sucralose intake (mean change in relative abundance = −1.43, P = 0.04).

Conclusions

Sucralose reduced obesity in humans by reducing the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio and increasing the relative abundance of Actinobacteria. However, sucralose induced obesity in mice/rats by reducing the F/B ratio. More randomized clinical trials and international cooperation in sharing original data are warranted in the future.

KEYWORDS:

• Sweetener
• sucralose
• gut microbiome
• humans
• mice
• rats

Acknowledgments

We thank for those authors researching about sucralose and gut microbiota, although they didn’t provide original data. We thank the Translational Laboratory, and the Department of Medical Research from Taipei Medical University Hospital for providing support in the preparation of gut microbiota samples. The authors would like to acknowledge the technologic and analysis support provided by TMU (Taipei Medical University) Core Laboratory of Human Microbiome.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contribution

The authors’ contribution to this manuscript are as follows – C.Y.C., Y.C.C.: study concept and design. C.Y.C. and C.H.T.: title screening, data extraction, and quality assessment of studies. C.H.T.: data analysis and data interpretation. C.Y.C.: writing of manuscript; D Garrido, A Farzi, and H. Herzog provided their original data for our study. H.Y.F., Y.C.C.: manuscript revision; and all authors: read and approved the final manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, grant number MOST 109-2314-B-038-057-, MOST 110-2314-B-038-156 – and MOST 111-2314-B-038-004.