Effect of Aspartame on Histology and Histomorphometry of Stomach in Balb/C Mice

Introduction: Aspartame is one of the synthetic sweeteners widely used in the food industry as a sugar substitute in recent decades. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of different doses of aspartame on histological and histomorphometric changes in the stomach in BALB/C mice. Material & Methods: In this study, 24 BALB/C mice aged three weeks were selected and divided into three experimental groups that received 0.3 ml aspartame solution at doses of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg body weight, and a control group that received drinking water with the same condition up to nine weeks of age. Eventually, some tissue sections were prepared from the stomachs and stained using the hematoxylin-eosin method. After histological evaluation, the necessary images were prepared and the histomorphometric examination was conducted using an optical microscope equipped with Axiovision software. The thickness of mucosa, submucosa, musculature, and depth of pits was measured and the frequency of parietal cells was calculated in the dimensions of 6.25 × 104 μm2. (Ethic code: 7506001/6/7) Findings: Histological results indicated destruction and disruption of the mucosal epithelium and gastric pits and atrophy of gastric glands including glandular cells. In the histomorphometric examination of the non-glandular part, only the thickness of the mucosa had a significant difference in the group receiving the highest dose of aspartame compared to the control group (P