ArticleNutrients2023
Aspartame and Its Metabolites Cause Oxidative Stress and Mitochondrial and Lipid Alterations in SH-SY5Y Cells.
Article in Nutrients, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Aspartame and Neurotoxicity: Quantitative Insights from Biomarker and Dose-response Analysis.Current neurovascular research · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of Artificial Sweeteners on the Musculoskeletal System: A Systematic Review of Current Evidence.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Review
- Artificial sweetener intake and risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a mediation analysis based on plasma metabolic biomarkers.Nutrition & metabolism · 2026Article
- Chronic Aspartame Exposure Leading to Hypertension in Mice may be Related to the Activation of the Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway in the Hypothalamus.Molecular nutrition & food research · 2026Article
- Lipid Metabolic Effects Induced by Individual and Combined Exposure to Multiple Food Additives in Human Cells.Toxics · 2026Article
- Artificial Sweeteners and Gut Microbiota: Mechanistic Insights and Implications for Metabolic Health.Current nutrition reports · 2026Review
- Cellular Stress, Inflammation and Barrier Damage in Gut Epithelial Cells Caused by Aspartame.Allergy · 2026Article
- CREB5 Inhibits Neuronal Ferroptosis via Transactivating ApoL6 to Regulate Lipid Droplet Metabolism After Spinal Cord Injury.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Article
- Aspartame may promote erectile dysfunction via DPP4-mediated endothelial dysfunction and apoptosis: evidence from network toxicology, molecular dynamics simulation, and experimental validation.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Advances in Cardiolipin Analysis: Applications in Central Nervous System Disorders and Nutrition Interventions.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Food as Medicine for Hypertension: Microbiota as Mediators.Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) · 2025Review
- No Evidence of Metabolomic Disruptions From Real-World Intakes of Aspartame or Saccharin: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study.Journal of diabetes · 2025Article
- Aspartame and Human Health: A Mini-Review of Carcinogenic and Systemic Effects.Journal of xenobiotics · 2025Review
- Review
- Intestinal dysbiosis associated with non-nutritive sweeteners intake: an effect without a cause?Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Metabolomics signatures of sweetened beverages and added sugar are related to anthropometric measures of adiposity in young individuals: results from a cohort study.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2024Article
- Food contamination and cardiovascular disease: a narrative review.Internal and emergency medicine · 2024Review
- Review
- Aspartame Safety as a Food Sweetener and Related Health Hazards.Nutrients · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Due to a worldwide increase in obesity and metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, synthetic sweeteners such as aspartame are frequently used to substitute sugar in the diet. Possible uncertainties regarding aspartame's ability to induce oxidative stress, amongst others, has led to the recommendation of a daily maximum dose of 40 to 50 mg per kg. To date, little is known about the effects of this non-nutritive sweetener on cellular lipid homeostasis, which, besides elevated oxidative stress, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of various diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. In the present study, treatment of the human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y with aspartame (271.7 µM) or its three metabolites (aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol (271.7 µM)), generated after digestion of aspartame in the human intestinal tract, resulted in significantly elevated oxidative stress associated with mitochondrial damage, which was illustrated with reduced cardiolipin levels, increased gene expression of SOD1/2, PINK1, and FIS1, and an increase in APF fluorescence. In addition, treatment of SH-SY5Y cells with aspartame or aspartame metabolites led to a significant increase in triacylglycerides and phospholipids, especially phosphatidylcholines and phosphatidylethanolamines, accompanied by an accumulation of lipid droplets inside neuronal cells. Due to these lipid-mediating properties, the use of aspartame as a sugar substitute should be reconsidered and the effects of aspartame on the brain metabolism should be addressed in vivo.
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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 Socratic graph.