The dietary sweetener sucralose is a negative modulator of T cell-mediated responses
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Fabio Zani Julianna Blagih Tim Gruber Michael Buck Nicholas Jones Marc Hennequart Clare Newell Steven Pilley Pablo Soro-Barrio Gavin Kelly Nathalie Legrave Eric Cheung Ian S Gilmore Alex Gould Cristina Garcia-Caceres Karen VousdenAbstract
Artificial sweeteners are used as calorie-free sugar substitutes in many food products and their consumption has increased substantially over the past years1. Although generally regarded as safe, some concerns have been raised about the long-term safety of the consumption of certain sweeteners2-5. In this study, we show that the intake of high doses of sucralose in mice results in immunomodulatory effects by limiting T cell proliferation and T cell differentiation. Mechanistically, sucralose affects the membrane order of T cells, accompanied by a reduced efficiency of T cell receptor signalling and intracellular calcium mobilization. Mice given sucralose show decreased CD8+ T cell antigen-specific responses in subcutaneous cancer models and bacterial infection models, and reduced T cell function in models of T cell-mediated autoimmunity. Overall, these findings suggest that a high intake of sucralose can dampen T cell-mediated responses, an effect that could be used in therapy to mitigate T cell-dependent autoimmune disorders.
Journal details
Journal Nature
Volume 615
Issue number 7953
Pages 705-711
Available online
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Publisher website (DOI) 10.1038/s41586-023-05801-6
Europe PubMed Central 36922598
Pubmed 36922598
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