High Consumption of Common Sweetener Can Suppress Immune Cells
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Researchers at the Francis Crick institute have published a new study suggesting that very high levels of sucralose consumption could suppress the activation of immune T cells in mice, a finding that authors say could one day lead to the development of autoimmune treatments.
Sucralose, an artificial compound hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, is found commonly in sugar-free food and drinks. But, like other artificial sweeteners, sucralose’s effects on the body aren’t fully understood.
Recent studies have pointed to sucralose influencing human health via the microbiome. A new study has investigated the impacts of sucralose on the immune systems of mice. The impacts on T cells, key agents of the immune response, could potentially be harnessed for autoimmune disease treatment if found to have similar effects in humans.
Karen Vousden, senior author and a principal group leader at the Francis Crick Institute, said, “More research and studies are needed to see whether these effects of sucralose in mice can be reproduced in humans. If these initial findings hold up in people, they could one day offer a way to limit some of the harmful effects of autoimmune conditions.”
High levels of consumption
In the study, mice were fed sucralose at levels equivalent to the acceptable daily intake recommended by American and European food health bosses. These are not levels that would normally be achieved by everyday consumption of sucralose-containing foodstuffs but can be reached in humans.
In mice fed these high doses of sucralose, the ability of T cells to become activated was reduced in response to infection or cancer. Non-T immune cells were unaffected.
Looking at the affected T cells more closely, the research team noted that higher doses of sucralose could impact the intracellular calcium release that is provided by stimulation, thereby dampening T-cell function.
The researchers hope that extremely high therapeutic doses of sucralose could be used in humans, far above levels reached in the course of eating sucralose-containing foodstuffs. These bumper levels could potentially mitigate autoimmune diseases – a finding noted in mice. Future work will focus on whether sucralose could have similar effects in humans.
The bigger picture of sucralose
Vousden added, “We're hoping to piece together a bigger picture of the effects of diet on health and disease so that one day we can advise on diets that are best suited to individual patients or find elements of our diet that doctors can exploit for treatment.
"More research and studies are needed to see whether these effects of sucralose in mice can be reproduced in humans. If these initial findings hold up in people, they could one day offer a way to limit some of the harmful effects of autoimmune conditions."
Karis Betts, senior health information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “This study begins to explore how high doses of sucralose could potentially be used in new treatment options for patients, but it’s still early days.
“The results of this study don’t show harmful effects of sucralose for humans so you don’t need to think about changing your diet to avoid it.”
Reference: Zani F, Blagih J, Gruber T, et al. The dietary sweetener sucralose is a negative modulator of T cell-mediated responses. Nature. Published online March 15, 2023:1-7. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05801-6
This article is a rework of a press release issued by the Francis Crick Institute. Material has been edited for length and content.
