Sucralose is one of the most widely used
artificial sweeteners used by the food industry to reduce the calorie density of their products. Although broadly regarded as innocuous, studies show contrasting results depending on whether the research subjects are lean or
overweight. In this study, we studied the effect of
sucralose consumption on
glucose homeostasis in a model of
obesity. Male C57BL/6J mice were fed ad libitum with control or a high-fat diet (HFD) and drank either water or
sucralose (0.1 mg/mL) for 8 weeks. To characterize the ensuing metabolic changes, we evaluated
weight gain,
glucose and
pyruvate tolerance, and physical performance. Also, we assessed markers of steatosis and mitochondrial mass and function in the liver. Our results show that
sucralose reduced
weight gain,
glucose, and
pyruvate intolerance, and prevented the decrease in physical performance of HFD-fed mice. In the liver,
sucralose also had a positive effect, preventing the decrease in mitochondrial mass exerted by HFD. Altogether, our results indicate that in the context of an obesogenic diet,
sucralose has a beneficial effect at the organismal and hepatic levels.