Microbiome and Non-caloric Sweeteners in Humans

Non-caloric sweeteners are common food supplements consumed by millions worldwide as means of combating weight gain and diabetes, by retaining sweet taste without increasing caloric intake. While they are considered safe, there is increasing debate regarding their potential role in contributing to metabolic derangements in some humans. The investigators recently demonstrated that non-caloric sweeteners consumption could induce glucose intolerance in mice and, in preliminary experiments, in distinct human subsets, by functionally altering the gut microbiome, and that the gut microbiome plays an important role in mediating differential glucose responses to identical foods. The proportion of the human population that is susceptible to glucose intolerance induced by non-caloric sweeteners, the common factors that are shared between these individuals and whether and how the microbiome promotes the metabolic derangements remain to be addressed.