Maternal consumption of artificially sweetened beverages during pregnancy is associated with infant gut microbiota and metabolic modifications and increased infant body mass index
Isabelle Laforest‐Lapointe, Allan B. Becker, Piush J. Mandhane, Stuart E. Turvey, Theo J. Moraes, Malcolm R. Sears, Padmaja Subbarao, Laura K. Sycuro, Meghan B. Azad, Marie‐Claire Arrieta
Abstract
sp. in Cluster 2. In the complete dataset, urine succinate and spermidine levels at 3 months were higher in ASB-exposed infants, and urine succinate was positively associated with BMI at one-year-old. Overall, gestational exposure to ASB was associated with gut microbiota structure in infants from Cluster 2, and gut microbiota structure was associated with infant BMI. Gestational exposure to ASB was positively associated with infant urine succinate and spermidine. Succinate was found to mediate 29% of the effect of ASB exposure on BMI at one-year-old, revealing a potential role of this metabolite in increased infant weight linked to gestational ASB consumption. As we face an unprecedented rise in childhood obesity, future studies should evaluate the causal relationships between maternal ASB consumption (a modifiable exposure), gut microbiota and metabolites, infant metabolism, and body composition.