Daytime aspartame intake results in larger influences on body weight, serum corticosterone level, serum/cerebral cytokines levels and depressive-like behaviors in mice than nighttime intake

Haiyuan Ma; Jiapeng Deng; Jing Liu; Xiaobao Jin; Junhua Yang

doi:10.1016/j.neuro.2024.03.004

Daytime aspartame intake results in larger influences on body weight, serum corticosterone level, serum/cerebral cytokines levels and depressive-like behaviors in mice than nighttime intake

Neurotoxicology. 2024 Mar 16:102:37-47. doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2024.03.004. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Haiyuan Ma¹, Jiapeng Deng¹, Jing Liu², Xiaobao Jin³, Junhua Yang⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Clinical Medicine, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
² Department of Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
³ Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
⁴ Department of Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, China. Electronic address: jhyang2018@gdpu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38499183
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuro.2024.03.004

Abstract

Aspartame (APM) is one of the most widely used artificial sweeteners worldwide. Studies have revealed that consuming APM may negatively affect the body, causing oxidative stress damage to multiple organs and leading to various neurophysiological symptoms. However, it's still unclear if consuming APM and one's daily biological rhythm have an interactive effect on health. In this study, healthy adult C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups: Control group (CON), oral gavage sham group (OGS), daytime APM intragastric group (DAI) and nighttime APM intragastric group (NAI). DAI and NAI groups were given 80 mg/kg body weight daily for 4 weeks. We found that DAI and NAI groups had significantly increased mean body weight, higher serum corticosterone levels, up-regulated pro-inflammatory responses in serum and brain, and exacerbated depressive-like behaviors than the CON and the two APM intake groups. Moreover, all these changes induced by APM intake were more significant in the DAI group than in the NAI group. The present study, for the first time, revealed that the intake of APM and daily biological rhythm have an interactive effect on health. This suggests that more attention should be paid to the timing of APM intake in human beings, and this study also provides an intriguing clue to the circadian rhythms of experimental animals that researchers should consider more when conducting animal experiments.

Keywords: Biological clock; Emotional behavior; Food; Inflammation; Stress; Sweetener.