Effect of the artificial sweetener, sucralose, on small intestinal glucose absorption in healthy human subjects.

Plain Language Summary

Recent animal-based studies have shown that the artificial sweetener, sucralose, stimulates glucose absorption by enhancing apical availability of the transporter GLUT2 [is a transmembrane carrier protein that enables protein facilitated glucose movement across cell membranes]. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether exposure of the proximal small intestine to sucralose affects the subsequent response to glucose in terms of the rate of glucose absorption and the glycaemic response. This study is a randomised, single-blind, cross-over design study for which ten healthy subjects (eight males and two females) were enrolled and studied twice. Results indicate that: - there was no difference in baseline glucose concentrations between the two study days. - there was no difference in baseline glucagon-like peptide-1 [a hormone produced in the gut and released in response to food] concentrations between the two study days. - intraduodenal administration of sucralose has no effect on the rate of glucose absorption from the lumen of the small intestine. Authors conclude that acute intraduodenal administration of sucralose does not enhance the absorption of glucose from the small intestine or increase blood glucose or plasma glucagon-like peptide-1 concentrations in healthy human subjects.