Effect of aspartame in spinal cord and its motor behavior in Wistar albino rats.

More than 90 countries have given the artificial sweetener aspartame the green light to be used in thousands of food and beverage products. Two hundred times sweeter than sugar, aspartame allows food manufacturers to produce sweet foods they can market as “low calorie,” “diet,” or sugar-free,” appealing to hundreds of millions of consumers looking to cut sugar from their diets. Concern relating to the possible adverse effect has been raised due to aspartames metabolic components. Aspartame is rapidly and completely metabolized in humans and experimental animals to aspartic acid (40%), phenylalanine (50%) and methanol (10%). Methanol, a toxic metabolite is primarily metabolized by oxidation to formaldehyde and then to formate these processes are accompanied by the formation of superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide. This study focus is to understand whether the oral administration of aspartame (40 mg/kg b.w) for 90 days, have any effect on membrane bound ATPase’s, and antioxidant status in spinal cord of rats. To mimic human methanol metabolism, folate deficient rats were used. After 90 days of aspartame administration, shows a significant change in membrane bound ATPase’s and antioxidant level. This study concludes that oral administration of aspartame (40mg/kg.bw) for longer duration may cause oxidative stress in spinal cord, which didn’t have any consequence on motor behavior, but may cause other neuronal complication because oxidative stress in spinal cord can’t be ignored.