Sucralose & Thymus study

[Guest guest]

Thanks to Warren's research, this study lists the amount of sucralose given

rats in a study on toxicology (including thymus weights) ... amt noted in third

paragraph.

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[1] TITLE: Sucralose: lack of effects on sperm glycolysis and reproduction

in the rat.

AUTHORS: Kille JW; Ford WC; McAnulty P; Tesh JM; Ross FW; Willoughby CR

AUTHOR AFFILIATION: McNeil Specialty Products Company, 501 Street,

New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA.

SOURCE: Food Chem Toxicol 2000;38 Suppl 2:S19-29

CITATION IDS: PMID: 10882815 UI: 20341225

ABSTRACT: Certain chlorine-substituted sugars with chemical similarities to

sucralose have been demonstrated previously to diminish or inhibit sperm

glycolysis and fertility in the rat ([Ford]). In order to investigate this

potential for sucralose, epididymal spermatozoa were recovered from rats

exposed in vivo to oral doses of one of three of these substituted sugars:

6-chloroglucose (6-CG, 24mg/kg/day, positive control), sucralose

(500mg/kg/day, (over 300 times the expected human daily intake), or a

6'-substituted isomer of sucralose, trichloro de-oxy sucrose (TCDS,

100mg/kg/day, a potential trace impurity in commercial sucralose); distilled

water served as the negative control. After incubation of the spermatozoa

with D-[u-(14)C] glucose, measurements of (14)CO(2) and of ATP content

showed no impairment of the glycolytic ability of spermatozoa in any of the

groups except for a marked inhibition for those exposed to 6-CG, the

positive control. In order to determine whether other parameters of

reproduction and fertility could be affected, reproductive endpoints were

examined following oral exposure of male and female rats to sucralose.

Sucralose was fed in the diet at concentrations of 0, 0.3, 1.0 and 3.0%

(approx. 100, 365 and 1150 times the EDI) [estimated daily intake] to

groups of 30 male and 30 female rats for 10 weeks prior to mating, and

continued through two subsequent generations until weaning of the

F(2) pups. Two litters were produced per generation. Food consumption and

weight gain in the F(0) and F(1) generations were depressed in all

sucralose groups before mating and in all four litters prior to weaning.

The decrease in initial average weight for newborn pups probably reflects

the increased litter sizes noted for sucralose-treated groups and the

reduced food consumption of the dams during gestation and lactation.

The latter is a result primarily of the unpalatability of sucralose

to rats ([McNeil,]). Caecal enlargement (a common animal response to

large doses of indigestible material) occurred in both the F(0) and

F(1) parents. Increased kidney weights, possibly associated with

increased water intake, were observed primarily among animals receiving

3% sucralose (no renal histopathology has been detected).

Decreased thymus weights occurred in F(1) males and in both F(1) and F(2)

females at the 3% level. Subsequent studies specifically designed to

investigate the potential for adverse immune system effects of sucralose

([McNeil,]) showed no adverse effects. These findings are consistent with

investigations by others showing that decreases in thymus weights occur in

young rats in response to stressful conditions associated with reductions

in weight gain. All reproductive indices (oestrous cycles, mating behaviour,

fertility, gestation, maternal and foetal viability, foetal development,

parturition, pup maturation and lactation) were comparable between the

control and sucralose-treated groups. We conclude from these results that

sucralose has no effect on sperm glycolysis or on male or female

reproductive performance in the rat.