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INFLUENCE OF SUGAR AND SWEETENERS ON MOUSE BODY WEIGHT, STRESS-INDUCED BODY WEIGHT CHANGES AND LIFE EXPECTANCY

IBOLYA FÜLÖP¹, DORINA BOBEȘ¹, MIRCEA DUMITRU CROITORU^1*, CARMEN G. BARBU²

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Artificial sweeteners are commonly used for sugar substitution in drinks and sweets for better body weight control. Many animal studies have shown that these substances can induce hunger and increased food consumption leading to obesity instead of the expected weight loss. This effect is attributed to an increased insulin secretion due to the sweet taste. Our goal was to administer sweet solutions (sugar, artificial sweeteners, or sugar + artificial sweeteners) to mice and to evaluate body weight and life expectancy changes. Solutions of artificial sweeteners administered instead of drinking water increased with about 10 % the body weight of male mice; female mice’s body weight remaining uninfluenced. This effect is abolished by replacing a part of the sweeteners with sugar, suggesting that after meal sweeteners don’t increase the sensation of hunger, since calories are provided together with the sweet taste. The administration of sugar solutions had no significant effect on mice’s body weight. Body weight loss was induced by moving animals in different types of cages; no effect of treatment compared to control was recorded. Even if some effects of treatment on survival curves were observed in the male group, statistical significance was not achieved.