UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO AT CAYEYRISE PROGRAM

Review

It’s aspartame multicarcinogenic?

Luis A. Perez Soto

Aspartame (C14H18N2O5) Is a dipeptide

artificial sweetener in food and drinks.

It is form by:AspartylPhenylalanineMethylester

(Alsuhaibani, 2010) Image from: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cfg/2010/605921/

Where can it be found?It can be found in over 6,000 products.

Image from: mcelduffmar100.blogspot.com Image from: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR8im7th4j4AtVec1n1t0jwPt8xP0_PZXACr56_C7lpv8_d6SPuvw

Disease RelatedAspartame is related with the following diseases:

DiabetesRheumatiod arthiritisRetinopathiesVessel agingCardiovascular diseasesCancer

(Renata et al 2010)

Sprague Dawley Rats ExperimentOrganism: Sprague Dawley rats (male and female).

Doses:5,000, 2,500, 500, 100, 20, 4, 0 kilograms by body

weight.

The administration of aspartame lasted until the rats have a natural death.

Two phases:Biophase – 151 weeks (until the last rat die). Necropsy

(Soffitti et al. 2010)

Results

Dose Number of Tumors

Lymphoma/leukemias

Carcinomas

Malignan Schwannomas

Dyplastic hyperplasias

Other sites

5,000kg

55 29% 1% 3% 3% 1%

2,500kg

45 20% 1% 3% 2% -

500kg 42 15% 1% 2% 2% -

100kg 69 22% 1% 1.3% 2.7% -

20kg 52 16.7% - .7% 2.7% 1.3%

4kg 49 15.3% - .7% 2% -

0kg 29 9% - .01% .01% -

Male Sprague Dawley

(Soffritti et al. 2010)

Results

Dose Number of Tumor

Lymphomas/leukemias

Carcinomas

Malignant Schwannomas

Dyplastic hyperplasias

Other sites

5,000kg 64 25% 4% 1% 8% 1%

2,500kg 84 25% 3% 1% 6.1% -

500kg 62 19% 3% 1% 6% -

100kg 57.3 18.7% 2% .7% 4% 1.3%

20kg 63.3 20% 2% - 3.3% -

4kg 56.7 14.7% .7% .7% 2.7% .7

0kg 31 8.7% - - 1.3% -

Female Sprague Dawley Rats

(Soffritti et al. 2010)

Swiss Mice ExperimentThe organism was Swiss mice and use female and

male.

The concentrations of aspartame were 100kg, 20kg, and 0kg.

Aspartame was administered until natural dead of the Swiss mice.

The biophase endend at 147 weeks with the dead of the last animal at the age of 144 weeks.

(Soffitti et al. 2010)

Aspartame Dose

Number of animals

Malignant Tumors

Lymphomas / leukemias

Mammary Carcinomas

100kg 70 44.3% 17.1% 2.9%

20kg 70 2.1% 15.7% -

0kg 95 27.4% 9.5% -

Male Swiss Mice

(Soffritti et al. 2010)

Aspartame Dose ppm (/kg bw)

Number of animals at start of the proyect

Malignant tumors

Lymphomas / leukemias

Mammary carcinomas

100 kg 70 85.7% 31.4% 15.7%

400 kg 70 62.9% 17.1% 7.1%

0 kg 95 50.5% 12.6% 5.3%

Female Swiss Mice

(Soffritti et al. 2010)

ConclusionAspartame is a potential carcinogenic compound

even at the daily recommended dose.

It’s a multicarcinogenic compound.

With a high daily dose of aspartame the risk of cancer raises.

Compare the two experiments using different type of animals to prove that aspartame is a multicarcinogenic compound in different species.

AcknowledgmentThanks to:Eneida Diaz Ph.D.Elena Gonzales Ed.D.Morando Soffritti Ph.D. for his incredible

work in aspartame research.

Thank you for your attention!

ContactLuis Alberto Pérez SotoEmail: luis.perez72@upr.edu

References Alsuhaibani ES., In vivo cytogenetic studies on aspartame., Hindawi.com., May

25, 2010., Recuperated from: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cfg/2010/605921/

Gallus S, Scotti L, Negri E, Talamini R, Franceschi S, Montella M, Giacosa A, Dal Maso L, La Vecchia C., Artificial sweeteners and cancer risk in a network of case-control studies., Pubmed.gov., October 2006., Recuperated from: http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/1/40.long

Gombos K, Varias T, Orsos Z, Polvák E, Peredi J, Varga Z, Nowrasteh G, Tettinger A, Mucsi G, Ember I., The effect of aspartame administration on oncogene and suppressor gene expresions., Pubmed.gov., In Vivo. Novermber-December 2007., Recuperated from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17354619

J. W. Olney, N. B. Farber, E. Spitznagel, and L. N. Robins,“Increasing brain tumor rates: is there a link to aspartame?”Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, vol. 55,no. 11, pp. 1115–1123, 1996.

ReferenceMorando Soffritti, Fiorella Belpoggi, Davide Degli Esposti,

Luca Lambertini, Eva Tibaldi, and Anna Rigano., First experimental demonstration of the multipotential carcinogenic effects of aspartame administered in the feed to Sprague-Dawley rats., Pubmed.gov., November 2005., Recuperated from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1392232/?tool=pubmed

Renata Alleva, Battista Borghi, Lory Santarelli, Elisabetta Strafella, Damiano Carbonari, Massimo Braci, Marco Tomasetti., In vitro effect of aspartame in angiogenesis induction., Sciencedirect.com., September 17, 2010., Recuperated from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0887233310002249