ArticleInternational journal of obesity (2005)2020
Nonnutritive sweetener consumption during pregnancy, adiposity, and adipocyte differentiation in offspring: evidence from humans, mice, and cells.
Article in International journal of obesity (2005), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between low-calorie sweetener consumption during pregnancy and child health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Consumption of Non-Nutritive Sweetener during Pregnancy and Weight Gain in Offspring: Evidence from Human Studies.Nutrients · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of prenatal artificial sweeteners consumption on birth outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Public health nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of Non-Nutritive Artificial Sweeteners on Gut Microbiota and Host Metabolism and Health-Related Outcomes: A Review.Nutrients · 2026Review
- High sucralose exposure in early pregnancy increases the susceptibility of heart defects in mice offspring.iScience · 2026Article
- Re-evaluation of sucralose (E 955) as a food additive and evaluation of a new application on extension of use of sucralose (E 955) in fine bakery wares.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2026Article
- Artificial and natural non-nutritive sweeteners drive divergent gut and genetic responses across generations.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Effect of High Intensity Sweeteners on the Reproductive System: From the Onset of Puberty to Menstrual Health: A Comprehensive Review of Human and Animal Evidence.International journal of women's health · 2026Review
- The Safety Profile of Aspartame: A Review of Regulatory Standards and Emerging Health Concerns.Journal of nutrition and metabolism · 2026Review
- Maternal consumption of urbanized diet compromises early-life health in association with gut microbiota.Gut microbes · 2025Review
- Consensus on the key characteristics of metabolism disruptors.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2025Review
- Sucralose-Enhanced Adipogenesis on Preadipocyte Human Cell Line During Differentiation Process.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- From Fetus to Eight: the CHILD Cohort Study.American journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Sucralose: From Sweet Success to Metabolic Controversies-Unraveling the Global Health Implications of a Pervasive Non-Caloric Artificial Sweetener.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Daily Early-Life Exposures to Diet Soda and Aspartame Are Associated with Autism in Males: A Case-Control Study.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Maternal low-calorie sweetener consumption rewires hypothalamic melanocortin circuits via a gut microbial co-metabolite pathway.JCI insight · 2023Article
- Article
- Maternal consumption and perinatal exposure to non-nutritive sweeteners: should we be concerned?Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Review
- The Associations between Maternal Serum Aspartame and Sucralose and Metabolic Health during Pregnancy.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Endocrine and Metabolic Impact of Oral Ingestion of a Carob-Pod-Derived Natural-Syrup-Containing D-Pinitol: Potential Use as a Novel Sweetener in Diabetes.Pharmaceutics · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundObesity often originates in early life, and is linked to excess sugar intake. Nonnutritive sweeteners (NNS) are widely consumed as "healthier" alternatives to sugar, yet recent evidence suggests NNS may adversely influence weight gain and metabolic health. The impact of NNS during critical periods of early development has rarely been studied. We investigated the effect of prenatal NNS exposure on postnatal adiposity and adipocyte development.
methodsIn the CHILD birth cohort (N = 2298), we assessed maternal NNS beverage intake during pregnancy and child body composition at 3 years, controlling for maternal BMI and other potential confounders. To investigate causal mechanisms, we fed NNS to pregnant C57BL6J mice at doses relevant to human consumption (42 mg/kg/day aspartame or 6.3 mg/kg/day sucralose), and assessed offspring until 12 weeks of age for: body weight, adiposity, adipose tissue morphology and gene expression, glucose and insulin tolerance. We also studied the effect of sucralose on lipid accumulation and gene expression in cultured 3T3-L1 pre-adipocyte cells.
resultsIn the CHILD cohort, children born to mothers who regularly consumed NNS beverages had elevated body mass index (mean z-score difference +0.23, 95% CI 0.05-0.42 for daily vs. no consumption, adjusted for maternal BMI). In mice, maternal NNS caused elevated body weight, adiposity, and insulin resistance in offspring, especially in males (e.g., 47% and 15% increase in body fat for aspartame and sucralose vs. controls, p < 0.001). In cultured adipocytes, sucralose exposure at early stages of differentiation caused increased lipid accumulation and expression of adipocyte differentiation genes (e.g., C/EBP-α, FABP4, and FASN). These genes were also upregulated in adipose tissue of male mouse offspring born to sucralose-fed dams.
conclusionBy triangulating evidence from humans, mice, and cultured adipocytes, this study provides new evidence that maternal NNS consumption during pregnancy may program obesity risk in offspring through effects on adiposity and adipocyte differentiation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.