Overview
- The peer-reviewed Frontiers in Nutrition study, reported Monday, fed sucralose or stevia to parent mice for 16 weeks and then tracked two unexposed generations for changes in blood sugar, gut bacteria, and key genes.
- Offspring showed modest, sex- and generation-specific changes in glucose control, including impaired tolerance in male sucralose descendants and higher fasting levels in F2 males from sucralose parents and F2 females from stevia parents.
- Parental exposure reshaped the offspring gut microbiome and lowered short-chain fatty acids that help regulate inflammation and metabolism, with sucralose producing the most persistent shifts.
- Researchers observed higher intestinal expression of inflammatory markers Tnf and Tlr4 and lower liver expression of Srebp1 linked to fat and glucose regulation, outlining plausible biological routes.
- Study authors and outside experts said the mouse results do not prove harm in humans and called for targeted human trials and measured use of non-nutritive sweeteners, echoing WHO concerns about long-term metabolic effects.