An artificial sweetener commonly used in drinks could be used to treat people with autoimmune disorders like type 1 diabetes, a new study has suggested. Sucralose may supress the immune response to disease in mice, researchers have found.
Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute found that consuming a high amount of sucralose, which is added to hot beverages and found in diet soft drinks, lowers activation of T cells – a type of white blood cell – in the animals. It could be used as a treatment if it is found to have similar effects in humans.
Doses tested were within recommended consumption limits, but would be the equivalent of drinking about 30 cups of sweetened coffee in a day, or 10 cans of a diet fizzy drink. The findings are published in the Nature journal.
