Evidence mapPaperPMID 41879845Full record

ArticleNaunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology2026

Long-term artificial sweetener exposure increases the risk of atherosclerosis.

Jumin Xie, Zean Song, Wei Fang, Ying Zhu, Yanru Chao, Shengdi Wang, Shaoping Liu

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In one paragraph

Article in Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Jumin XieHubei Key Laboratory of Renal Disease Occurrence and Intervention, Medical School, Hubei Polytechnic University, Huangshi, 435003, Hubei, China. xiejm922@163.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4493-4548
Zean Song *Hubei Key Laboratory of Renal Disease Occurrence and Intervention, Medical School, Hubei Polytechnic University, Huangshi, 435003, Hubei, China.
Wei Fang *Hubei Key Laboratory of Renal Disease Occurrence and Intervention, Medical School, Hubei Polytechnic University, Huangshi, 435003, Hubei, China.
Ying Zhu *Hubei Key Laboratory of Renal Disease Occurrence and Intervention, Medical School, Hubei Polytechnic University, Huangshi, 435003, Hubei, China.
Yanru ChaoHubei Key Laboratory of Renal Disease Occurrence and Intervention, Medical School, Hubei Polytechnic University, Huangshi, 435003, Hubei, China.
Shengdi WangDepartment of Stomatology, Huangshi Central Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Hubei Polytechnic University, Huangshi, 435000, Hubei, China.
Shaoping LiuDepartment of General Practice, Huangshi Central Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Hubei Polytechnic University, Huangshi, 435000, Hubei, China. 13237245656@163.com.

Funding

Key Project in the Scientific Research Plan of the Hubei Province Education Department D20234505Open Fund Project of Hubei Key Laboratory for Kidney Disease Pathogenesis and Intervention 2024SJ104Open fund research project of Huangshi Key Laboratory of Molecular Diagnosis and Individualized Therapy FZ2024005
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study aimed to elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms by which artificial sweeteners contribute to the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis, with the goal of providing a theoretical basis for the safety evaluation of artificial sweeteners and the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis. Targets associated with seven artificial sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame, sucralose, NHDC, cyclamate, neotame, and saccharin) were retrieved from the CTD and ChEMBL databases. Additional target screening was performed using SwissTargetPrediction, SEA, TargetNet, and PharmMapper. Disease Ontology (DO) enrichment analysis was conducted to identify diseases potentially linked to artificial sweetener targets. Atherosclerosis-related targets were obtained from GeneCards, DisGeNET, and TTD databases, and their union was taken. Weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) was applied to identify key modules associated with immune cell infiltration. Mendelian randomization (MR) was performed to identify core targets with potential causal effects. Single-sample GSEA and CellChat analyses were conducted for core targets. Finally, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations were used to evaluate the binding stability between core target proteins and artificial sweeteners. A total of 795 targets associated with the seven artificial sweeteners were identified. DO enrichment analysis revealed significant associations with atherosclerosis. Integration of targets from GeneCards, DisGeNET, and TTD yielded 2904 atherosclerosis-related targets. Intersection with 572 DEGs from GEO datasets identified 53 overlapping targets. Further intersection with WGCNA key module genes yielded 13 potential candidate targets. MR analysis indicated strong causal associations of SCARB1 and ST14 with atherosclerosis. Molecular docking and dynamics simulations confirmed stable binding between SCARB1/ST14 proteins and artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners may promote the development and progression of atherosclerosis by modulating cholesterol metabolism via the SCARB1 target and influencing macrophage migration through the ST14 target.

Indexed as

AtherosclerosisSweetening AgentsGene Regulatory NetworksHumansMendelian Randomization AnalysisMolecular Docking SimulationMolecular Dynamics SimulationSweetening AgentsArtificial sweetenerAtherosclerosisMendelian randomizationMulti-omics analysisNetwork toxicology

Identifiers

PMID41879845

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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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.