Eur Heart J

Common sweetener linked to potential CV risks

June 21, 2024

New research findings add to the growing body of evidence that sugar alcohols, which are used in place of sugar in a variety of products to offset increasing rates of diabetes, obesity, and CV disease, may have the opposite effect and increase major adverse CV event (MACE) risk. In this study, the common sweetener xylitol was associated with incident MACE risk among adults. Moreover, xylitol both enhanced platelet reactivity and thrombosis potential in vivo.

• Researchers conducted untargeted metabolomics studies on overnight fasting plasma samples from 1,157 patients undergoing elective diagnostic cardiac evaluations.
• Higher circulating levels of endogenous xylitol were associated with incident 3-year MACE risk, which was confirmed after multivariable adjustment compared with a validation cohort (hazard ratio, 1.57; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-2.21).
• Complementary mechanistic studies showed xylitol-enhanced multiple indices of platelet reactivity and in vivo thrombosis formation at levels observed in fasting plasma.
• In interventional studies involving 10 healthy human volunteers, consumption of a xylitol-sweetened drink markedly raised plasma levels in as little as 30 minutes and enhanced multiple functional measures of platelet responsiveness in all subjects.

Sources:

Witkowski M, et al. Eur Heart J. (2024, June 6). Xylitol is prothrombotic and associated with cardiovascular risk. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38842092/

NIH. (2024, June 14). NHLB in the Press. Common sweetener linked to potential cardiovascular risks. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/news/2024/common-sweetener-linked-potential-cardiovascular-risks#