Comparison of the influences of sorbitol, stevia and sucralose on the intragastric distribution and gastric emptying, on the release of incretins and the balance of glucose in healthy volunteers

• Grant number: 10/06241-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: November 01, 2010
• End date: October 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Brandt de Oliveira
• Grantee: Ricardo Motta Pereira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Various sweeteners are used to control body weight and/or situations where the consumption of natural sugars is not indicated. Given the worldwide increase in prevalence of obesity and diabetes mellitus, it is important to study the implications of the use of sweeteners on motility and transit in the gastrointestinal tract, balance of glucose and incretin release. Objective: To study the influence of the sweeteners, sorbitol, stevia and sucralose on the intragastric distribution of meals (IDM), gastric emptying (GE), release of insulin, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) and glucose in healthy subjects and compare the overall result obtained with sucrose. Methods: 10 volunteers, asymptomatic, should eat four different test meals, a daily in the same volume, sweetness and osmolarity prepared with sorbitol, stevia, sucralose and sucrose (control). Blood samples are taken from the brachial vein before intake of each meal (t = -5 min), and periods t = 0, 5, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 minutes, where it will be measured, blood glucose (with glucometer), GLP-1 and insulin by radioimmunoassay, and GIP by ELISA. To study the IDM and GE, all meals will be labeled with the radioisotope technetium 99 (99mTc) linked to phytate, a nonabsorbable carrier. The signs will be purchased through the external abdominal scintigraphy for 90 minutes, scanned and analyzed in MatLab environment. The IDM will be obtained when analyzing the percentage of meal accumulated in the proximal stomach, while the GE is calculated based on time (minutes) elapsed between ingestion and the time when the radioactivity in the stomach is reduced to half the initial value.