Effect of an Artificial Sweetener on Rat’s Pancreas and Body Weight

Objective: To observe the effects of an artificial sweetener on rat’s pancreas and body weight.Material and Methods: This Laboratory based randomized control trial was carried out at Anatomy department, Army Medical College Rawalpindi, in collaboration with NIH, Islamabad, from March to May 2014. Forty male and female Sprauge dawley rats were used in the experiment. Ten males and 10 females served as control group C and 10 males and 10 female served as an experimental group E (n = 20 animals in each group). The rats were randomly allocated by using a random selection table. Control group C was given normal diet for two months whereas experimental group E was provided artificial sweetener (sodium cyclamate) 60mg/kg/day through oral gavage tube for two months. Animals were weighed before and at the end of experiment. Pancreas were dissected out, examined and weighed. Histological sections of pancreas were studied under light microscope. Fatty infiltration was calculated in three slides per specimen. Results were analyzed on SPSS version 20.Results: The pancreas of rats showed fatty infiltration and weight of animals were significantly higher in experimental group.Conclusion: Artificial sweetener brings significant fatty infiltrations in rat’s pancreas and also induces weight gain in animals.