Decreasing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages by inhibition of the sweet taste receptor in Wistar rats
Résumé
Excessive added sugar consumption is a nutritional determinant that influences high chronic disease rates: specifically, increased consumption of substances with added sugar is related to a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, obesity or type-2 diabetes. In consequence, strategies to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages are a key component of public health promotion and obesity prevention. Among new strategies, the use of bioactive compounds extracted from plants such as Gymnema sylvestre is a tool with great potential due to their sweet-taste receptor inhibitory properties. The main objective of the study was to examine if oral administration of a Gymnema sylvestre derivative, gurmarin, was able to reduce consumption and preference for sweet beverages in an animal model. 24 Wistar rats (50% females) were divided into three groups: experimental (with Q-1 recombinant gurmarin) and two control groups (with gymnemic acids that have no effect in rats and phosphate buffer). After anaesthesia with isoflurane, the lingual application of 20 μl of the experimental or control solutions were carried out. Finally, one-bottle acceptance tests (sweet beverages, sucrose 10% v/v), and two-bottle preference tests (water versus sucrose 10% v/v) were performed within a session and between sessions. Results showed a significative reduction of sucrose consumption in experimental group both after 5 and 10 minutes of inhibitor administration within session (p<.05) and along four experimental sessions (p<.05), with no preference differences. Hence, preclinical studies show the effectiveness of the use of sweet taste inhibitors to reduce sugar consumption.