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Effects of Sugars and Sugar Alternatives on Human Health and Disease

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Carbohydrates".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2024) | Viewed by 6496

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Medicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Interests: metabolic changes in obesity; links between obesity metabolism and intestinal microbiome; GLP-1 and GI hormones
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
1. St. Clara Research at St. Claraspital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
2. Department of Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Interests: nutritional physiology and medicine; metabolic changes in obesity; appetite control/regulation of satiety; gastrointestinal hormones; taste perception; gut-brain-axis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

About 30% of the world's population is overweight or obese, which represent an important risk factor for non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and metabolic diseases. Several studies report a positive association between the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and the worldwide rise in obesity cases. Based on these findings, the World Health Organization recommends a reduction in sugar consumption.

Alternative sweeteners have gained interest as substitutes for conventional sweeteners (such as sucrose, glucose, or fructose). The goal is to achieve a reduction in sugar consumption without compromising the sweet taste. Alternative sweeteners are usually categorized into three groups: artificial low-caloric sweeteners (such as sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame K, etc.), natural low-caloric bulk sweeteners (such as xylitol, erythritol, maltitol, etc.), and rare sugars (such as D-allulose, tagatose, trehalose, etc.).

The role of these alternative sweeteners and their impact on health and disease is, however, highly debated. Although the compounds are approved for human use and considered toxicologically safe, their short- and long-term impacts on human health and disease remains uncertain.

This Special Issue of Nutrition aims to collect the latest research on the links between the effects of sugars and sugar alternatives consumption and human health and disease.

Prof. Dr. Christoph Beglinger
Dr. Anne Christin Meyer-Gerspach
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • sweeteners
  • low-calorie sweeteners
  • rare sugars
  • cardiovascular disease
  • metabolic disease

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 8423 KiB  
Article
Artificial and Natural Sweeteners Biased T1R2/T1R3 Taste Receptors Transactivate Glycosylated Receptors on Cancer Cells to Induce Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition of Metastatic Phenotype
by Elizabeth Skapinker, Rashelle Aldbai, Emilyn Aucoin, Elizabeth Clarke, Mira Clark, Daniella Ghokasian, Haley Kombargi, Merlin J. Abraham, Yunfan Li, David A. Bunsick, Leili Baghaie and Myron R. Szewczuk
Nutrients 2024, 16(12), 1840; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16121840 - 12 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1692
Abstract
Understanding the role of biased taste T1R2/T1R3 G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) agonists on glycosylated receptor signaling may provide insights into the opposing effects mediated by artificial and natural sweeteners, particularly in cancer and metastasis. Sweetener-taste GPCRs can be activated by several active states [...] Read more.
Understanding the role of biased taste T1R2/T1R3 G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) agonists on glycosylated receptor signaling may provide insights into the opposing effects mediated by artificial and natural sweeteners, particularly in cancer and metastasis. Sweetener-taste GPCRs can be activated by several active states involving either biased agonism, functional selectivity, or ligand-directed signaling. However, there are increasing arrays of sweetener ligands with different degrees of allosteric biased modulation that can vary dramatically in binding- and signaling-specific manners. Here, emerging evidence proposes the involvement of taste GPCRs in a biased GPCR signaling crosstalk involving matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and neuraminidase-1 (Neu-1) activating glycosylated receptors by modifying sialic acids. The findings revealed that most natural and artificial sweeteners significantly activate Neu-1 sialidase in a dose-dependent fashion in RAW-Blue and PANC-1 cells. To confirm this biased GPCR signaling crosstalk, BIM-23127 (neuromedin B receptor inhibitor, MMP-9i (specific MMP-9 inhibitor), and oseltamivir phosphate (specific Neu-1 inhibitor) significantly block sweetener agonist-induced Neu-1 sialidase activity. To assess the effect of artificial and natural sweeteners on the key survival pathways critical for pancreatic cancer progression, we analyzed the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal markers, CD24, ADLH-1, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin in PANC-1 cells, and assess the cellular migration invasiveness in a scratch wound closure assay, and the tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) in staging the migratory intercellular communication. The artificial and natural sweeteners induced metastatic phenotype of PANC-1 pancreatic cancer cells to promote migratory intercellular communication and invasion. The sweeteners also induced the downstream NFκB activation using the secretory alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) assay. These findings elucidate a novel taste T1R2/T1R3 GPCR functional selectivity of a signaling platform in which sweeteners activate downstream signaling, contributing to tumorigenesis and metastasis via a proposed NFκB-induced epigenetic reprogramming modeling. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Sugars and Sugar Alternatives on Human Health and Disease)
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Review

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13 pages, 1053 KiB  
Review
D-Tagatose: A Rare Sugar with Functional Properties and Antimicrobial Potential against Oral Species
by Adriana de Cássia Ortiz, Simone Ortiz Moura Fideles, Carlos Henrique Bertoni Reis, Bruna Trazzi Pagani, Lívia Maluf Menegazzo Bueno, Matheus Bento Medeiros Moscatel, Rogerio Leone Buchaim and Daniela Vieira Buchaim
Nutrients 2024, 16(12), 1943; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16121943 - 19 Jun 2024
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Abstract
Carbohydrates have a dietary role, but excessive consumption of high-calorie sugars can contribute to an increased incidence of metabolic diseases and dental caries. Recently, carbohydrates with sweetening properties and low caloric value, such as D-tagatose, have been investigated as alternative sugars. D-tagatose is [...] Read more.
Carbohydrates have a dietary role, but excessive consumption of high-calorie sugars can contribute to an increased incidence of metabolic diseases and dental caries. Recently, carbohydrates with sweetening properties and low caloric value, such as D-tagatose, have been investigated as alternative sugars. D-tagatose is a rare sugar that has nutritional and functional properties of great interest for health. This literature review presents an approach to the biological effects of D-tagatose, emphasizing its benefits for oral health. Studies report that D-tagatose has antioxidant and prebiotic effects, low digestibility, reduced glycemic and insulinemic responses, and the potential to improve the lipid profile, constituting an alternative for diabetes mellitus and obesity. It can also be observed that D-tagatose has an antioxidant action, favoring the elimination of free radicals and, consequently, causing a reduction in cellular oxidative stress. Furthermore, it also has antibacterial potential against oral species. Regarding oral health, studies have shown that D-tagatose efficiently reversed bacterial coaggregations, including periodontopathogenic species, and impaired the activity and growth of cariogenic bacteria, such as S. mutans. D-tagatose significantly inhibited biofilm formation, pH decrease and insoluble glucan synthesis in S. mutans cultures. Salivary S. mutans counts were also significantly reduced by the consumption of chewing gum containing D-tagatose and xylitol. In addition, there is evidence that tagatose is effective as an air-polishing powder for biofilm decontamination. The literature indicates that D-tagatose can contribute to the prevention of systemic diseases, also constituting a promising agent to improve oral health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Sugars and Sugar Alternatives on Human Health and Disease)
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18 pages, 573 KiB  
Review
Metabolic Effects of Selected Conventional and Alternative Sweeteners: A Narrative Review
by Fabienne Teysseire, Valentine Bordier, Christoph Beglinger, Bettina K. Wölnerhanssen and Anne Christin Meyer-Gerspach
Nutrients 2024, 16(5), 622; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16050622 - 23 Feb 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2654
Abstract
Sugar consumption is known to be associated with a whole range of adverse health effects, including overweight status and type II diabetes mellitus. In 2015, the World Health Organization issued a guideline recommending the reduction of sugar intake. In this context, alternative sweeteners [...] Read more.
Sugar consumption is known to be associated with a whole range of adverse health effects, including overweight status and type II diabetes mellitus. In 2015, the World Health Organization issued a guideline recommending the reduction of sugar intake. In this context, alternative sweeteners have gained interest as sugar substitutes to achieve this goal without loss of the sweet taste. This review aims to provide an overview of the scientific literature and establish a reference tool for selected conventional sweeteners (sucrose, glucose, and fructose) and alternative sweeteners (sucralose, xylitol, erythritol, and D-allulose), specifically focusing on their important metabolic effects. The results show that alternative sweeteners constitute a diverse group, and each substance exhibits one or more metabolic effects. Therefore, no sweetener can be considered to be inert. Additionally, xylitol, erythritol, and D-allulose seem promising as alternative sweeteners due to favorable metabolic outcomes. These alternative sweeteners replicate the benefits of sugars (e.g., sweetness and gastrointestinal hormone release) while circumventing the detrimental effects of these substances on human health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Sugars and Sugar Alternatives on Human Health and Disease)
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