Aspartame Ingestion During Pregnancy

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Abstract
During pregnancy, the maternal organism undergoes a number of remarkable physiological adjustments, many of them involving the absorption, distribution, and metabolism of ingested compounds. Gastrointestinal motility is generally slowed, presumably reflecting an inhibitory action of progesterone on smooth muscle, and the extent of absorption tends to increase. The extracellular fluid space expands, resulting in a greater apparent volume of distribution, and urinary excretion increases concomitantly. While these physiological adjustments have not been studied with particular reference to aspartame, there is every reason to expect that they apply. Nevertheless, it seems likely that any such differences between pregnant and nonpregnant animals are relatively minor with respect to maternal metabolism per se, leaving the fetoplacental unit as the principal focus of interest and concern. Accordingly, the emphasis of this chapter will be on the placental transfer and metabolism of the individual components of aspartame, aspartate, phenylalanine, and methanol.

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