Maternal consumption of non-nutritive sweeteners during pregnancy/lactation does not affect salivary insulin levels in children at 6-8 months of age

Abstract

Introduction: Over the last decade, the consumption of non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) has drastically increased in the Chilean population, including among pregnant and lactating mothers. Associations between maternal NNS consumption, increased risk of preterm birth, and greater weight gain in infants at one year of age have been reported. Additionally, the presence of NNS in amniotic fluid and breastmilk raises the possibility that maternal NNS consumption may induce metabolic alterations in the child.

Objective: Evaluate the effect of maternal NNS consumption during pregnancy/lactation on salivary insulin levels, as a reflection of plasma insulin, at the time of weaning.

Methods: A survey on NNS consumption was conducted with 59 pregnant mothers using a photographic atlas of 826 NNS-containing foods available in the Chilean market. These mothers were classified by quartiles according to their total NNS consumption or sucralose intake. At 6-8 months of age, a saliva sample was obtained from their infants (42.4% male) to determine insulin concentration using ELISA.

Results: The total NNS consumption was 448 ± 164 mg/d in Quartile-1 and 36.0 ± 17.3 mg/d in Quartile-4, while sucralose intake was 138 ± 34 mg/d in Quartile-1 and 9.8 ± 6.3 mg/d in Quartile-4. No correlations were observed between the weight of infants and maternal total NNS or sucralose consumption. There were no differences neither in salivary insulin concentrations between the infants of mothers in Quartile-1 (2.01 ± 0.86 μIU/ml) and Quartile-4 (1.86 ± 1.75 μIU/ml), nor were there differences according to sucralose intake.

Conclusions: Maternal NNS consumption during pregnancy/lactation does not appear to affect insulin levels in their infants at the time of weaning.