Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have demonstrated that excess sugar can interfere with the renewal of the colon’s mucosal lining. The results, reported in Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, may illuminate why limiting sugary foods appears to ease symptoms for people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
The study split mice into two groups: one received a standard diet, the other a sugar-rich diet. To mimic IBD-like damage, researchers exposed the animals to DSS, a compound that injures the colon.
All mice on the high-sugar diet died within nine days, while those on the standard diet survived through the full 14-day observation period.
To understand the underlying cause, the team examined the colon, which is protected by an epithelium that normally regenerates through stem cell division roughly every five days in a healthy gut.
In certain animals, this protective epithelial layer was lost, leading to colon bleeding and immune cell infiltration, a scenario associated with worsened intestinal injury.
The researchers repeated the experiment in mice whose gut microbiota had been depleted and observed the same lethal outcome. This indicates that sugar’s harmful effects on the colon occur independently of gut microbes.
The team then explored how sugar impacts both mouse and human colonoids, lab-grown mini-guts. They found that stem cells divided more slowly in high-sugar environments. Intestinal cell metabolism shifted away from fatty acids toward a sugar-dominated energy source.
These observations suggest that sugar causes a metabolic reprogramming that impairs stem cell proliferation, slows mucosal regeneration, and accelerates intestinal damage in IBD. The results align with other studies linking sugary beverages, including cola and fruit juice, to worse outcomes for people with IBD.