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Effect of Aspartame on Phenylalanine Metabolism in the Monkey

Department of Biochemistry, Searle Laboratories, Division of G. D. Searle and Company, Box 5110, Chicago, Illinois 60680

Aspartame (SC-18862, 3-amino-N-(-carboxyphenethyl)succinamic acid, methyl ester; the methyl ester of aspartyl-phenylalanine) is a sweetening agent that organoleptically has about 180 times the sweetness of sugar. It is hydrolyzed in the gut to its constituent moieties: methanol, aspartic acid, and phenylalanine; and these are metabolized as natural constituents in the diet. Because the major fraction of phenylalanine is incorporated into body constituents, this study was carried out to determine if continued ingestion of aspartame had any effect on phenylalanine metabolism. It was found that after aspartame had been administered at doses of 15 or 60 mg/kg for 10 days, these treatments had essentially no effect on the disappearance of intravenously administered [¹⁴C]phenylalanine from the plasma. In addition, the conversion of labeled phenylalanine to tyrosine was not affected, nor was the rate of conversion to CO₂ substantially affected, nor was the rate of incorporation of the label into protein changed by the treatments. It was concluded that these doses of aspartame had not modified phenylalanine metabolism in this species.

KEY WORDS: • aspartame • monkeys • phenylalanine • metabolism • sweetener • dipeptide

Manuscript received 9 April 1973.

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