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Italian Study Links Artificial Sweetener, Aspartame, To Leukemia in Rats

Source: Newsinferno.com News Staff

July 15, 2005 - Aspartame is a highly successful artificial sweetener invented in 1965 that is 200 times sweeter than ordinary sugar. Although it has enjoyed growing success in the U.S., the UK, and other markets over the past 10 years, it has also been the subject of claims that it is linked to various forms of cancer.

The sweetener is marketed under the brand name NutraSweet and is found in a number of low-calorie or non-calorie drinks and foods. It is also packaged and sold in powder or tablet form as a sweetener for cold or hot beverages or for the use in food or baking recipes.

The manufacturer, NutraSweet AG, has always maintained that the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence does not link the product to malignant brain tumors or any other form of cancer. The company regards efforts to label the sweetener as a health risk as nothing more than scare-mongering.

Thus, the company maintains that it welcomes an upcoming three-year study by researchers from Kings College ( London) which will examine whether there is any link between the product and an increased risk of developing malignant brain tumors.

Among other things, the researchers will look at whether people with certain genetic make-ups are susceptible to methanol, a component of aspartame, which some research has suggested may attack DNA and cause cells to mutate and cause cancer.

On a different front, however, BBC News is reporting that an Italian study involving rats, published in the European Journal of Clinical Oncology, demonstrated a potential cancer link.

In the study conducted at the Cancer Research Center in Bologna, eight-week-old rats were fed varying amounts of aspartame while the control group remained free of the product.

At the conclusion of the test period, the control rats were cancer-free while many of the female rats that were exposed to the sweetener developed lymphomas and leukemias. As the amount of aspartame increased, so did the risk.

As a result of their findings, the researchers believe their study raises questions concerning the level of aspartame-exposure that should prompt an urgent re-examination of the subject. The critical question is: How much aspartame can be consumed (in relation to a persons weight) without any appreciable health risk?

Thus, further research is needed to determine if, and by how much, exceeding the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of aspartame needs to be before problems arise. Currently, the ADI far exceeds even a substantial diet of sugar-free drinks

Intracellular IL-4, IL-10, and IFN- Levels of Leukemic Cells and Bone Marrow T Cells in Acute Leukemia

Hun Hee Park1, Myungshin Kim2, Bong-Hee Lee1, Jihyang Lim2, Yonggoo Kim, Eun Jung Lee2, Woo Sung Min3, Chang Suk Kang2, Won Il Kim2, Sang In Shim2 and Kyungja Han2

1 School of Life Science and Biotechnology, Korea University; 2 Department of Clinical Pathology and 3 Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

Address correspondence to Kyungja Han, M.D., Department of Clinical Pathology, Catholic University Medical College, St. Marys Hospital, Youngdeungpogu, Youido-dong 62, Seoul, Korea (South) 150-713; tel 82 2 3779-1297; fax 82 2 783 6648; e-mail [email protected].

The quantitative levels of intracellular cytokines IL-4, IL-10, and IFN- (ie, the number of bound PE-conjugated antibody molecules/cell) of leukemic cells and bone marrow T cells (bmT cells) of acute leukemia patients were analyzed by flow cytometry. One hundred, thirty-one (95 AML, 25 ALL, 11 ABL) patients were studied. The leukemic cell IL-4 level was highest in the monocytic AML group (1735 ± 1056) and lowest in the dysplastic AML group (960 ± 545). The IFN- level was highest in the acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) group (495 ± 159), and lowest in the ALL group (252 ± 119). The IL-10 level was not significantly different among the diagnosis groups. In bmT cells, the IL-10 level was highest in the dysplastic AML group (972 ± 1049) and lowest in the APL group (397 ± 352). The leukemic cell cytokine levels were lowest and bmT cell cytokine levels were highest in the dysplastic AML group. There were no significant correlations of these cytokine levels with 2-yr survival rate, complete remission (CR) rate, or relapse rate. The cytokine levels of bmT cells at the time of CR became normal and were not different among the diagnosis groups. In summary, leukemic cell and bmT cell cytoplasmic expression profiles of IL-4, IL-10, and IFN- are characteristic for each diagnostic group of acute leukemia patients and the profiles of bmT cells are normal at the time of CR.

Keywords: IL-4, IL-10, IFN-, acute leukemia, T lymphocyte, bone marrow T cells

Bone marrow victim, 18, succumbs

By Tim Grace, Enterprise staff writer
Emily Quinlan's struggle with childhood leukemia came to an end Saturday.

But the 18-year-old's family and friends say they'll go forward with planned bone marrow drives and fundraisers despite the loss of their loved one.

"It was very important to her and to her family that we find donors for other people," said Sheila Barry, one of the organizers of a bone marrow drive to be held at Stonehill College on April 26.

Quinlan was a senior in a California high school when she was diagnosed with AML, or acute myeloegenous leukemia, a rare form of cancer.

She spent the better part of last year undergoing chemotherapy as an in-patient at Children's Hospital in Boston.

Her family, split between Massachusetts and California, took turns at her bedside. But, after a brief remission, cancer began to invade her bone marrow. And bone marrow drives in Bridgewater and Taunton failed to yield a match before her death.

Barry, the medical science coordinator and professor in the biology department at Stonehill College, hopes people will turn out for the April 26 bone marrow drive to honor Quinlan's memory and possibly to save the life of another leukemia patient.

The drive will be held from 2-8 p.m. at the Stonehill College Commons, Room A111. It is one of several being held in the state.

Potential donors don't have to worry about needles. A self-administered mouth swab is all that's required. "Nobody should hesitate," Barry said.

Donors should bring their health insurance cards, though un-insured donors are also welcome. No donors will be charged for the procedure.

On May 5, Quinlan's friends and family will host "Emily's Night," a fundraising event at Florian Hall, 55 Hallet St., Dorchester from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tickets for Emily's Night are on sale for $20 and are available through the Quinlans' Web site, www.emilysfight.org.

Information on other drives can also be found on www.dok.com.

The money raised will benefit Children's Hospital and help finance things not covered by health insurance for people needing bone marrow transplants, for programs that the oncology floor holds for their patients, and to help the Caitlin Raymond International Registry screen more potential donors without health insurance.

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