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Effect of frequent intake of sweeteners on the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in the central nervous system of mice
Author(s) -
Barrios Alberto Andrés,
Contreras Irazú,
Estrada José Antonio
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.850.7
Subject(s) - sucralose , food science , sucrose , chemistry , leptin , endocrinology , medicine , obesity
Sweeteners are food additives that are commonly used worldwide. There are discrepancies in epidemiological studies evaluating their effect on body weight and appetite; this generates the need to further study the mechanism by which sweeteners could affect satiety and energy balance. This study's main objective is to evaluate whether frequent intake of the commercial sweeteners; sucralose, steviol glycosides and sucrose could cause alterations in the leptin‐mediated JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway, in the central nervous system of mice. For this purpose, three study groups comprised of 14‐week‐old female BALB/c mice were established: sucrose, steviol glycosides and sucralose groups were supplemented with those sweeteners in their daily water for 6 weeks (from week 8 to week 14), additionally, a control group was established without sweetener supplementation. Mice were fed ad libitum and weight was measured weekly. The amount of food and water intake was measured daily. After 6 weeks, body composition of mice was determined using bioelectrical impedance and total brain proteins were obtained to determine the expression of total and phosphorylated JAK2 and STAT3 proteins by western blot. Our preliminary results show that there is a higher consumption of water, but lower food intake in the sucrose group compared with the control and other experimental groups; there are no significant differences in body weight and adiposity among groups. Regarding JAK2/STAT3, expression of pJAK2 and JAK2 was found to be higher in the group supplemented with sucralose, whereas we did not observe changes in the STAT3 proteins. We also found that mice supplemented with steviol glycosides and sucrose had a lower expression of pJAK2 and JAK2 compared to control mice. Our results suggest that frequent intake of commercial sweeteners may cause alterations in energy balance and appetite by altering the phosphorylation of JAK2, however, we need further study the effect of these sweeteners in the leptin‐receptor expression and serum leptin concentrations.