In vivo and in vitro studies with sulfamate sweeteners

Area of Science:

• Metabolomics
• Toxicology
• Microbiology

Background:

• Sulfamates are artificial sweeteners with varying metabolic profiles.
• Understanding the in vivo and in vitro metabolism of sulfamates is crucial for safety assessment.
• Previous studies have investigated the metabolism of cyclamate and other sulfamate derivatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the metabolic fate of novel sulfamate compounds (2-methylcyclohexyl-, 3-methylcyclohexyl-, and 2-cyclohexenylsulfamates) in Wistar albino rats.
• To compare the in vivo metabolism of these compounds with previously studied sulfamates.
• To conduct complementary in vitro studies using bacterial extracts and assess preliminary mutagenicity of related amines.

Main Methods:

• Administration of sulfamate compounds to Wistar albino rats.
• Analysis of rat urine and feces for amine, ketone, and alcohol metabolites.
• In vitro incubation of sweet sulfamates (cyclamate, cycloheptyl-, cyclooctyl-, cyclopentylsulfamates) with fecal bacterial extracts.
• Preliminary Ames test for mutagenicity of corresponding amines.

Main Results:

• Low overall percentages of metabolites were detected for the tested sulfamates.
• 2-Cyclohexenylsulfamate yielded a particularly small quantity of metabolites.
• A correlation was observed between in vitro bacterial metabolism and previous in vivo findings for sulfamates.

Conclusions:

• The in vivo metabolism of 2-methylcyclohexyl-, 3-methylcyclohexyl-, and 2-cyclohexenylsulfamates in rats is limited.
• In vitro bacterial incubations provide insights that correlate with in vivo metabolic data.
• Further investigation into the safety and metabolic pathways of these sulfamate compounds is warranted, including mutagenicity assessments.