TIFR study proposes potential therapeutic to mitigate metabolic effects of sugary beverages

Researchers at ARUMDA-TIFR uncover harmful effects of sugar beverages on health, proposing targeted therapies for metabolic effects from consumption of sugary beverages

Researchers at the Advanced Research Unit on Metabolism, Development & Aging (ARUMDA), at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)-Mumbai and TIFR-Hyderabad, have unveiled a comprehensive understanding of the harmful effects of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) on human health, causing diseases such as diabetes and obesity.

Using a preclinical mouse model that closely mimics human consumption patterns, they showed that a regular intake of such beverages will lead to the onset of diseases, alter key physiological, molecular, and metabolic processes across various organs.

In their study, the researchers including Saptarnab Ganguly; Tandrika Chattopadhyay; Rubina Kazi; Souparno Das; Bhavisha Malik; Uthpala ML Padmapriya S. Iyer; Mohit Kashiv; Anshit Singh; Amita Ghadge; Shyam D. Nair; Mahendra S.Sonawane and Ullas Kolthur-Seetharam - who is director of Centre for DNA Finger Printing & Diagnostics (CDFD), have shown how these sugar drinks drive obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders.

The researchers gave mice 10% sucrose water to mimic chronic human sugar beverage consumption and later conducted a detailed analyses of molecular, cellular and metabolic responses in multiple tissues, including the liver, muscles and small intestine, under fed and fasted conditions.

It was discovered that the small intestine is a major contributor to systemic glucose imbalances and an excessive sucrose consumption causes a “molecular addiction” in the intestinal lining. This leads to disproportionate absorption of glucose over other essential nutrients such as amino acids and fats. “The nutrient uptake imbalance disrupts energy metabolism and amplifies the dysfunction of other organs like the liver and muscles,” explained Dr. Ullas Kolthur-Seetharam.

The fed and fasting phases also demonstrated distinct anabolic and catabolic responses due to chronic sucrose intake indicating how the nutrient allocation and resource mobilization contribute to systemic metabolic disorders. While the liver does not exhibit altered gene expression despite increased glucose absorption, insulin resistance is triggered, exacerbating gluconeogenesis or glucose production that leads to metabolic imbalance, he said.

The findings stress on the urgent need for policies and awareness campaigns to reduce consumption of sugar beverages, particularly among vulnerable populations. Identification of tissue-specific effects in the study has provided a roadmap for developing targeted therapies to combat the rising metabolic diseases linked to high sugar intake, said the researchers.