TY - THES ID - 136571625 TI - Invloed van de zoetstof erythritol op het beloningssyteem in de hersenen AU - Van Troys, Emmy AU - Weltens, Nathalie AU - Van Oudenhove, Lukas AU - Budzinska, Aleksandra AU - KU Leuven. Faculteit Geneeskunde. Opleiding Master in de biomedische wetenschappen (Leuven) PY - 2022 PB - Leuven KU Leuven. Faculteit Geneeskunde DB - UniCat UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:136571625 AB - Background: Low calorie sweeteners (LCS) are hypothesized to lower energy intake and might therefore be useful to help control obesity. However, the beneficial impact of these LCS on body weight remains controversial. Results from recent studies suggest that erythritol might be a good candidate substitute for sugar, as it may reduce energy intake without compensatory overeating or early return of hunger. However, its rewarding properties remain unknown. Aim: In this master thesis, we aimed to investigate erythritol’s sweet taste-related reward system responses in light of the newly discovered satiating effects. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that sucrose would elicit stronger reward system responses than sucralose, but did not formulate a specific hypothesis on erythritol given the lack of existing data. Methods: Thirty healthy males were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Prior to scanning, we individually matched the concentrations of erythritol and sucralose to the perceived sweetness of a 10% sucrose solution. A triangle test was used to determine whether subjects were able to distinguish the solutions. On the day of the scan, participants first rated their hunger using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and the intensity of each solution using the General Intensity Scale (GIS). During the scan, participants received small sips of erythritol, sucrose, sucralose and water (negative control) in pseudorandomized order. After each delivery, they rated sweetness liking using the general hedonic liking scale (GHIS). Behavioral data were analyzed using linear mixed models. For the fMRI data, we performed a group-level univariate general linear model to test whether there were significant differences in brain responses between conditions within a mask of regions of interest. Results: Results from the triangle test indicated that people were able to distinguish at least one taste pair above the chance level. Sweetness intensity ratings for erythritol were significantly lower compared to sucrose (p = 0.0182) and sucralose (p <0.0001). Additionally, liking ratings for erythritol were significantly lower than those for sucrose and sucralose (p = 0.0041 respectively). When adjusting for the covariates hunger and sweetness intensity, the difference in liking ratings between erythritol and sucrose (p = 0.0037), and erythritol and sucralose (p = 0.0037) remained significant. Only intensity had a significant influence on the liking ratings (p = 0.0108), hunger did not (p = 0.9164). Analysis of the fMRI data did not reveal any significant differences in activation between the different sweetener conditions, but also not when comparing them with water. Conclusion: Erythritol, despite its sweet taste and satiating properties, evokes lower liking responses than sucrose and sucralose. We did not find any differences in brain responses between the different sweeteners, nor when comparing them with water. ER -