Effects of Siraitia grosvenorii extracts on high fat diet-induced obese mice：a comparison with artificial sweetener aspartame

Long-term artificial sweetener intake is linked to increased risk of obesity. In the present study, supplement of natural sweetener from Siraitia grosvenorii (SG) (or Momordica grosvenorii) fruit, compared with the artificial sweetener aspartame (ASM), was evaluated for anti-obesity effects on mice fed with high fat diet (HFD). We found that, in contrary to ASM, SG extracts prevented body weight gain, the insulin resistance and fat mass accumulation in HFD mice. SG extracts treatment inhibited the infiltration of inflammatory macrophages and lowered the levels of the fat inflammatory cytokines (leptin, macrophage chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)) in adipose tissues. In addition, SG extracts supplement counteracted the remodeling of gut microbiota resulted from HFD. However, ASM supplement aggravated the HFD-induced obese performances, fat inflammation and dysregulation of gut microbiota. Taken together, our results indicate that supplement of SG extracts may represent a promising alternation of artificial sweeteners in preventing metabolic diseases.