The biochemical marker of oxidative stress – MDA might explain the correlation between aspartame ingestion and anxiety disorder
The biochemical marker of oxidative stress – MDA might explain the correlation between aspartame ingestion and anxiety disorder

Summary/Abstract: Aspartame is an artificial sweetener and has been used as an alternative to sugar in food products because it has virtually zero calories. Anxiety is defined as a psychological state or a behavior induced in both humans and animals by a threat to their well-being or survival. This threat can be either actual or foreseen as probable by the individual. In the present study, we analyzed the possible influence of aspartame ingestion on plasmatic malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and on anxiety-like behavior. The experimental design consisted of 40 lab rats divided in 4 experimental groups: 10 in the high aspartame dosage group (125 mg/kg/day), 10 in the low aspartame dosage group (75 mg/kg/day), 10 in the control group, and 10 in the naive group. The control group received water with the exact procedure as the aspartame treatment. The naive group received no treatment whatsoever. In this experiment, we demonstrated that increase plasmatic MDA levels of rats can be determined by the administration of two distinct doses (high and low) of aspartame. By examining rats in the open field test we characterized the reluctance to explore the center of the open field test as increased anxiety. By measuring the duration of this behavior we succeeded to demonstrate that an effect of aspartame on anxiety symptoms also exists. In conclusion, our results confirm the hypothesis that an anxiogenic effect of aspartame on the rats’ brain exists. This anxiogenic effect might be explained by the increased plasmatic MDA that was also observed in anxious rats. Secondly, the aspartame effect on both MDA levels from plasma and anxiety symptoms was not dose-dependent in our rats’ sample. This data suggest caution in the aspartame consumption for both low and high dosages of this artificial sweetener.

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