DOI: 10.5061/dryad.bk3j9kdk6
title: Data from: Effects of high dose aspartame-based sweetener on the gut microbiota and bone strength in young and aged mice

description: Background: Recent reassessment of the safety of aspartame has prompted
 increased evaluation of its effect on the health of a range of tissues.
 The gut microbiome is altered by oral aspartame. One prior study suggested
 that changes in the microbiome caused by aspartame could influence the
 strength of bone in young skeletally developing mice. Here we ask how
 aspartame influences bone in mice of different age and sex. Objective: The
 objective of this study was to determine the effect of aspartame on the
 bone strength and gut microbiota of young and aged mice. Methods: Male and
 female C57Bl/6J mice were untreated or treated with a high dose of
 aspartame in their drinking water from 1 month of age until 4 (young
 cohort; n = 80) or 22 months (aged cohort; n = 52). Results: In aged
 males, mice treated with aspartame had greater body mass, whole bone
 strength, and femoral geometry relative to untreated. Specifically, in
 aged males, aspartame led to 9% increase in body mass (p &lt; 0.001),
 22% increase in whole bone strength (p = 0.006), and 17% increase in
 section modulus (p &lt; 0.001) relative to untreated mice. Aged males
 and females receiving aspartame had a different microbiota than untreated
 mice and a decreased abundance of Odoribacter. No differences in body
 mass, whole bone strength, or femoral geometry were associated with
 aspartame dosing in young males or young or aged females. Conclusions:
 Aspartame treated aged males had greater whole bone strength and the
 effect appeared to be explained by greater body mass. Aspartame treatment
 did not alter whole bone strength in young males or young or aged females
 despite the aspartame having a similar effect on the microbiota of both
 aged males and females.
description: Dataset collected using 3-point bending of hydrated mouse femurs
 and micro-computed x-ray tomography of mouse femurs.
description: # Data from: Effects of high dose aspartame-based sweetener on the gut
 microbiota and bone strength in young and aged mice
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bk3j9kdk6](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bk3j9kdk6) This dataset includes raw biomechanics and micro-computed tomography femoral geometric measurements (excel file) corresponding to a cohort of young (4 month old) and aged (22 month old) male and female C57Bl/6J mice that have either received chronic high dose aspartame in their drinking water (10 g/L) from 1-4 months of age (young cohort) or 1-22 months of age (aged cohort) or untreated. This dataset also includes custom-written code for processing micro-CT images in Fiji (with BoneJ plug-in) and 3 point bending mechanical testing Matlab code for analyzing maximum force and force vs. displacement curves. ## Description of the data and file structure The excel file contains the raw male and female measurements of body mass, fat pad mass, biomechanics (max moment, tissue strength, max force, work to failure, yield force, yield displacement, stiffness), and femoral geometry measurements (femur length, moment of inertia, section modulus, cross-sectional area). Values that appear as N/A in the data file represent instances in which the data was unable to be measured or collected. -MAX_MOMENT (N*mm) = the maximum bending moment of the femur bone under applied load -SECTION_MODULUS (mm^3) = a geometric property of a cross-section of the femur bone and its ability to resist bending, calculated as the ratio of the moment of inertia of the bone section about a neutral axis to the distance from the neutral axis -TISSUE_STRENGTH (N/mm^2) = the strength of the bone tissue that reflects the strength of the bone matrix itself, independent of the size and the geometry of the bone -CROSS*_*SECTION_AREA (mm^2) = measured using micro-computed tomography scan, representing the area of a slice of the bone cut perpendicular to its length -MOMENT_OF_INERTIA (mm^4) = quantification of the resistance of the femur bone to bending or rotational deformation when subjected to 3-point bending forces -DISTANCE_TO_NEUTRAL_AXIS (mm) = calculated as the perpendicular distance from a point on the femur bone cross-section to the neutral axis, the neutral axis is an imaginary line in the femur bone where there is no longitudinal strain when placed under load -FAT_PAD_MASS (g) = the wet weight of perigonadal fat pad collected from mice at euthanasia -FEMUR_LENGTH (mm) = the length from tip to tip of the femur, measured with calipers -BODY_MASS (g) = the body weight of the mouse prior to euthanasia -MAX_FORCE (N) = the largest force that the femur bone could withstand prior to failure -WORK_TO_FAIL (N*mm) = the amount of energy required for the femur bone to fail under loading forces -YIELD_FORCE (N) = the amount of force applied to the femur bone where it begins to plastically (permanently) deform -YIELD_DISPLACEMENT (mm) = the amount of deformation in the femur bone where it reaches its yield point and deform plastically (permanently) -STIFFNESS (N/mm) = the resistance of the femur bone under force to deformation The Fiji Java code file is to be run as a Macro in Fiji with the BoneJ plug-in to analyze a stack of raw microcomputed-tomography images to measure moment of inertia, section modulus, cross-sectional area of the femoral mid-diaphysis. The Matlab code files are to be run following collection of raw force versus displacement curves from 3-point bending on MTS instrumentation and take input from weekly calibration curves of the MTS instrumentation. ## Sharing/Access information Additional raw data from this study can be found at: Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: * [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/1032620](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/1032620) Data was derived from the following sources: * This data includes raw 16S rRNA sequencing fastq files used in this study.