Center for Heatlh Research scientist coauthors paper on high-fructose corn syrup and the role it may play in the prevalence of kidney disease

Executive Update—Dr. Suma Vupputuri, a kidney-disease epidemiologist at TCHR-Southeast (Georgia), recently coauthored a study that found that women who drink at least two sugary sodas a day are nearly twice as likely to show early signs of kidney damage. Sugary sodas were categorized as those sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup.

For this study, Dr. Vupputuri collaborated with colleagues at the Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, and the UNC Kidney Center and Department of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Findings appeared in the October 2008 issue of PLoSONE.

The researchers examined data from 9,358 adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999–2004), a representative sample of the U.S. non-institutionalized population. Participants were asked about soda consumption during the past 24 hours; urine samples were tested for excess amounts of the protein albumin. Albuminaria, characterized by high levels of albumin in the urine, is an early marker for kidney disease. About 11% of the general population has albuminuria, but that number climbed to 17% among women who drank two or more sugary sodas per day. There was no increase in the prevalence of albuminuria among people who drank diet sodas (which use aspartame, sucralose, and other non-high-fructose corn syrup sweeteners) or for men drinking sugary sodas. High-fructose corn syrup has been the sweetener-of-choice for the vast majority of soda manufacturers since the 1980s, when it replaced sucrose. The authors point to the fact that the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup in the American diet ushered in a dramatic increase in diabetes, obesity, and kidney disease in this country. For example, between 1980 and 2005, diabetic end stage renal disease has increased threefold, and obesity rates in America have doubled. Highly inexpensive due to corn subsidies, high-fructose corn syrup is ubiquitous in the American diet—and, more recently, in the news. Last fall, the Corn Refiners Association launched a $30 million advertising campaign promoting the safety of high-fructose corn syrup. Last month, two new scientific studies conducted by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found mercury in nearly one half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup and in one third of 55 brand-named foods containing high-fructose corn syrup.

“In a time of recession,” says Dr. Vupputuri, “people may be turning to foods that are less expensive with a longer shelf-life—and high-fructose corn syrup makes foods cheaper and last longer. We need to understand as much as possible about how this sweetener affects public health.”