The Effect of Artificial Sweeteners (AFS) on Sweetness Sensitivity, Preference and Brain Response in Adolescents

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of dietary exposure to artificial sweeteners on taste sensitivity, preference and brain response in adolescents using fMRI, psychophysical measures, and questionnaires. The investigators hypothesize that dietary exposure to artificial sweeteners (sucralose) will decrease sensitivity to taste, shift preference of sweet and savory taste to a higher dose, and reduce brain response in amygdala to sweet taste compared to sucrose.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Obesity; Insulin Resistance
• Intervention / Treatment: Dietary supplement: Sucrose; Dietary supplement: Sucralose; Dietary supplement: Sucralose + maltodextrin

Detailed Description

We aim to identify neural factors that contribute to taste intensity perception in humans and to determine environmental mechanisms that contribute to variation in taste sensitivity. Significant controversy surrounds the possibility that consumption of artificial sweeteners (AFS) leads to weight gain. Given that the five FDA approved AFSs are found in thousands of foods (Yang 2010) this marks a clear and significant gap in knowledge. Our preliminary data demonstrate a 3-fold decrease in sweet taste sensitivity following consumption of a beverage sweetened with two packets of Splenda for just 10 days. These data provide strong evidence that repeated exposure to sucralose reduces perception of sweet taste intensity, most likely by down-regulation of the sweet taste receptor. Adolescents may be more sensitive to exposure to AFS because of changes in metabolism during this period of development. Physiologic insulin resistance occurs during adolescence (Moran, Jacobs et al. 1999); this change in insulin sensitivity may predispose adolescents to greater impairments in sweet taste intensity by altering the relationship between sweet taste and post-ingestive reward, as suggested by the Davidson and Swithers model (Davidson and Swithers 2004). Therefore, it is imperative that we gain a greater understanding of the physiological consequences of AFS use in adolescents, since alterations in sweet taste perception, metabolism and brain reward that occur in response to AFS exposure may promote weight gain.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 15
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Connecticut
    • New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06519
      • The John B. Pierce Laboratory

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 13 years to 17 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy
• Fluent in English
• Right handed
• 13-17 years old

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of oral nerve damage, presence of known taste or smell disorder, food allergies or sensitivities (for example nuts, lactose, artificial sweeteners), history of CNS disease, diabetes, history of DSM-IV major psychiatric disorder, including alcohol and substance abuse, chronic use of medication that may affect taste, conditions that may interefere with gustatory or olfactory perception (colds, seasonal allergies, recent smoking history), aberrant stimulus ratings, contra-indication for fMRI, uncomfortable swallowing in supine position, discomfort or anxiety associated with insertion an intravenous catheter, regular artificial sweetener use.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Sucralose; Flavored beverage with sucralose.	Dietary supplement: Sucralose; 2 packets
Experimental: Sucrose; Flavored beverage with sucrose.	Dietary supplement: Sucrose; equisweet to sucralose
Experimental: Sucralose + maltodextrin; Flavored beverage with Splenda + maltodextrin .	Dietary supplement: Sucralose + maltodextrin; sucralose plus equicaloric (to sucrose) maltodextrin

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Ratings of taste sensitivity	At baseline and after on average 2 weeks, subjects will rate intensity of sucrose, sucralose, mono potassium glutamate, sodium chloride and citric acid using the General Labeled Magnitude Scale (gLMS). It is a vertical line with quasi-logarithmic spaced labels that start at the bottom with 'barely detectable' to 'strongest imaginable' at the top, recoded to 0-100.	on average 2 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Insulin resistance and GLP-1	We will draw a blood sample to assess glucose, insulin and GLP-1	on average 2 weeks
Ad libitum food intake	Subject is offered milk and cereal and asked to consume as much as they want. The amount consumed is measured in weight and converted to calories.	on average 2 weeks
percent signal change of brain response in reward and gustatory areas to taste stimuli	brain response in reward and gustatory areas to sucrose, mono potassium glutamate, sodium chloride and citric acid (in percent signal change).	on average 2 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Yale University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Dana M Small, PhD, The John B. Pierce Laboratory/Yale University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: November 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): December 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 6, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 13, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): July 16, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 17, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 12, 2018
• Last Verified: January 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Glucose Metabolism Disorders; Metabolic Diseases; Hyperinsulinism; Insulin Resistance
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1409014612