Effect of Aspartame on Histological and Histometrical Structure of Prostate Gland in Adult Mice

  Aspartame is a low-calorie synthetic sweetener that is consumed by 200 million subjects worldwide. In recent years, negative effects of aspartame have been shown on various tissues of the body. This study aimed to investigate the effects of long term consumption of aspartame at different doses on histological and histometrical structure of ventral, anterior, and dorsal lobes of prostate gland in adult mice.

In this experimental study, 20 adult male mice were divided into four groups, including control group (without treatment) and groups receiving aspartame (at doses of 40, 80, and 160mg/kg/bw) by gavage for 90 days. First, the mice were euthanized, then, blood samples and tissue of the prostate lobes, were collected for histomorphological and histochemical studies. One-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post hoc test, were used to compare the means in the studied groups.

Histological and histometrical results were indicative of a significant decrease in cell count and epithelial height of the secretory units in ventral, anterior, and dorsal lobes of the prostate in aspartame groups compared to the control group (p<0.05). Percentage of parenchyma to ventral lobe of prostate gland showed a significant decrease in aspartame groups compared to the control group (p<0.05). A significant decrease was seen in serum testosterone in dose-dependent aspartame groups compared to the control group (p<0.05).

Aspartame has a negative effect (even at low doses) on the histopathological and histometrical structure of prostate gland, especially the ventral and anterior lobes. However, further clinical studies are required to evaluate the negative effects of aspartame in human