Efeitos do aspartame no rim fetal: estudo experimental em ratas

Abstract

Introduction: Aspartame is a widely used artificial sweetener added to many products of foods and beverages, being 200 times as sweet as sugar. Objective: evaluating the effect of aspartame in kidneys of rats fetuses considering morpholmetric changes of glomeruli, proximal and distal convoluted tubules and, colleting duct. Material and Method: Fifteen pregnant Wistar rats weighting around 240gr divided into three groups: control group (n = 5), treated group with aspartame at room temperature (n = 5) and treated group with aspartame heated to 40C (n = 5). The treatment with aspartame occurred on the 9, 10 and 11 day of pregnancy. A dose of 14mg/Kg of body weight during organogenesis. In the 20th day of pregnancy, animals were sacrificed and the fetuses were fixed in Alfac solution and the kidneys included in paraffin, sectioned an stained with hematoxiline-eosine. A morphometric study used karyometry and stereology. Results: There were significant decreases in fetal weight in treated group with aspartame at room temperature (p=0,004) when compared with control group. The Karyometric have allowed evaluation modification of cell nuclei with significant variation in the glomeruli, proximal and distal convoluted tubules and, lower degree in the colleting ducts of treated fetuses. Stereological parameters showed an increase in the cellular volume and reduction in the numerical cellular density when the control and treated groups with aspartame heated to 40C are statistically compared. Conclusions: These results showed that use of aspartame produced alterations in every kidney structures suggesting nefrotoxicity.