{"doi":"10.1038/s41598-024-84391-3","title":"Neurobehavioral plasticity in the rodent gustatory system induced by regular consumption of a low-calorie sweetener during adolescence","abstract":"Habitual consumption of low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) during juvenile-adolescence can lead to greater sugar intake later in life. Here, we investigated if exposure to the LCS Acesulfame Potassium (Ace-K) during this critical period of development reprograms the taste system in a way that would alter hedonic responding for common dietary compounds. Results revealed that early-life LCS intake not only enhanced the avidity for a caloric sugar (fructose) when rats were in a state of caloric need, it increased acceptance of a bitterant (quinine) in Ace-K-exposed rats tested when middle-aged. These behavior shifts, which endured months after the end of Ace-K exposure, were accompanied by widespread changes in the peripheral taste system. The anterior tongue had fewer fungiform taste papillae, and the circumvallate papillae had a reduced anterior to posterior span and diminished expression of genes involved in sweet reception, sweet and bitter intracellular signaling, fructose transport, and cellular progeneration in the Ace-K-exposed rats. Ace-K exposure also led to a significant reduction in dopamine-producing cells of the ventral tegmental area. The collective findings reveal that LCS intake early in life alters the taste-brain axis and the behavioral responsiveness to both positive and negative tastants that are important determinants of dietary preferences.","journal":"Scientific Reports","year":2025,"id":538503,"datarank":0.22725600614060623,"base_score":1.3862943611198906,"endowment":1.3862943611198906,"self_citation_contribution":0.20794415416798362,"citation_network_contribution":0.019311851972622605,"self_endowment_contribution":0.20794415416798362,"citer_contribution":0.019311851972622605,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":3,"citer_count":2,"citers_with_citation_signal":2,"citers_with_endowment":2,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9552,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":326427,"name":"Sarah J. Terrill","orcid":"0000-0002-5473-2851","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1425455,"name":"Juan P. Taborda-Bejarano","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":913769,"name":"Sandrine Chometton","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1425088,"name":"Mallory J. Witt","orcid":"0009-0000-0519-9512","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1425456,"name":"Gaurikka Mendiratta","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1425457,"name":"Emily G. Gilman","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1425458,"name":"Delenn R. Hartswick","orcid":null,"position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1425089,"name":"Bruce Anderson","orcid":"0000-0002-7264-4505","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":431694,"name":"Lindsey A. Schier","orcid":"0000-0002-8177-2728","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1425454,"name":"Clare M. Mathes","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":49,"raw_metadata":{"citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:52:21.389196Z","pmid":"39824856","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}