Background: Previous studies on saccharin and cyclamate were either limited to experimental animals or lacked evaluation of their long-term consumption effects in humans.
Objectives: This study evaluated the effect of chronic consumption of saccharin and cyclamate on biochemical parameters in healthy individuals and patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Material and methods: Healthy and diabetic individuals were classified into two groups based on whether they consumed sweeteners or not. The participants were classified according to the amount of sweetener consumed per day and duration of consumption. Serum catalase activity, peroxynitrite, ceruloplasmin, and malondialdehyde concentrations were determined. Glycated hemoglobin, fasting glucose, creatinine, alanine transaminase, and lipid profile were also evaluated. The results suggest that saccharin and cyclamate increased HbA1C (+11.16%), MDA (+52.38%), TG (+16.74%), LDL (+13.39%), and TC/HDL (+13.11%) in healthy volunteers. Diabetic patients consuming sweeteners showed increased FSG (+17.51%), ceruloplasmin (+13.17%), and MDA (+8.92%). Diabetic patients showed a positive correlation between the number of tablets consumed per day with FSG and serum creatinine. A positive correlation was found between the duration of sweetener consumption and FSG as well as TG.
Conclusion: Consumption of saccharin and cyclamate affected biochemical parameters related to metabolic functions in a time and dose-dependent manner and appear to increase oxidative stress in healthy and diabetic type 2 patients.
Keywords: artificial sweetener; atherosclerotic effect; cyclamate; metabolic dysfunction; oxidative stress; saccharin; type 2 diabetes mellitus.