Department of Medical Genetics, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China; Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China.
SCU-CUHK Joint Laboratory for Reproductive Medicine, Zebrafish Research Platform, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China; Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China.
Environ Pollut. 2024 Nov 15;361:124792. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124792. Epub 2024 Aug 23.
The use of aspartame as an artificial sweetener is prevalent in a wide range of everyday food products, potentially leading to health complications such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, autism spectrum disorders, and neurodegeneration. Aspartame has also been detected in natural water bodies at a concentration of 0.49 μg/L, yet research on its ecotoxicological effects on aquatic life remains scarce. This study aimed to investigate the potential negative effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of aspartame on the development of various tissues and organs in zebrafish embryos. We used a zebrafish model to treat embryos with aspartame at environmental concentration and those higher than in the environment-up to 1000 times. We observed that after exposure to aspartame body length increased, pigmentation was delayed, and neutrophil production inhibited in zebrafish. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis revealed that early exposure of zebrafish embryos to aspartame affected the transcriptomics of various systems, primarily by downregulating genes related to immune cell production, eye and optic nerve development, nervous system development, and growth hormone-related transcription. Most of the genes associated with ferroptosis were upregulated. This study provides new insights into the ecotoxicological effects of aspartame on aquatic environments.
阿斯巴甜作为一种人工甜味剂被广泛应用于各种日常食品中，可能会导致肥胖、糖尿病、自闭症谱系障碍和神经退行性疾病等健康问题。阿斯巴甜在天然水体中的浓度也检测到为 0.49μg/L，但对其对水生生物的生态毒理学影响的研究仍然很少。本研究旨在探讨环境相关浓度的阿斯巴甜对斑马鱼胚胎各种组织和器官发育的潜在负面影响。我们使用斑马鱼模型，用环境浓度和高于环境浓度的阿斯巴甜（高达 1000 倍）处理胚胎。结果表明，暴露于阿斯巴甜后，斑马鱼的体长增加，色素沉着延迟，中性粒细胞生成受到抑制。此外，转录组分析显示，早期暴露于阿斯巴甜的斑马鱼胚胎会影响各种系统的转录组，主要通过下调与免疫细胞生成、眼睛和视神经发育、神经系统发育以及生长激素相关转录有关的基因。与铁死亡相关的大多数基因被上调。本研究为阿斯巴甜对水生环境的生态毒理学影响提供了新的见解。
