Non-nutritive sweetener consumption during pregnancy affects adiposity in mouse and human offspring

Overweight and obesity affect over 20% of children worldwide. Emerging evidence shows that nonnutritive sweeteners (NNS) could adversely influence weight gain and metabolic health, particularly during critical periods of development. Thus, we aimed to investigate the impact of prenatal NNS exposure on postnatal growth and adiposity. Among 2298 families participating in the CHILD cohort study, children born to mothers who regularly consumed NNS during pregnancy had elevated body mass index and adiposity at 3 years of age. In a complementary study designed to eliminate confounding by human lifestyle factors and investigate causal mechanisms, we exposed pregnant mice and cultured adipocytes to NNS (aspartame or sucralose) at doses relevant to human consumption. In mice, maternal NNS exposure caused elevated body weight, adiposity and insulin resistance in offspring, especially in males. Further, in 3T3-L1 pre-adipocyte cells, sucralose exposure during early stages of differentiation caused increased lipid accumulation and expression of adipocyte differentiation genes (e.g. C/EBP-α, FABP4, FAS). The same genes were upregulated in the adipose tissue of male mouse offspring born to sucralose-fed dams. Together, these clinical and experimental findings provide evidence suggesting that maternal NNS consumption induces obesity risk in the offspring through effects on adiposity and adipocyte differentiation.