The effect of consuming a sucrose-containing sports drink on acute kidney injury risk during a four-hour simulated occupational heat stress.

Occupational heat stress increases acute kidney injury risk. Drinking a soft drink sweetened with high fructose corn syrup further elevates this acute kidney injury risk. However, the impact of sucrose, another fructose containing-sweetener, on acute kidney injury risk remains unexplored. We tested the hypothesis that drinking a sucrose-containing sports drink increases acute kidney injury risk when compared to drinking a sugar-free sports drink during four hours of simulated occupational heat stress. Ten healthy adults consumed a sucrose-containing or sugar-free sport drink ad libitum during four-hour exposures to wet bulb globe temperatures of ~28°C. 30 min of work and 30 min of rest were completed each hour. Work involved treadmill walking at a fixed rate of metabolic heat production (sucrose-containing: 6.0±1.2 W/kg, sugar-free: 5.5±0.9 W/kg, p=0.267). The product of urinary insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2, normalized to urine specific gravity ([IGFBP7·TIMP-2]USG), provided an acute kidney injury risk index. Mean core (intestinal: n=13, rectal: n=7) temperature (sucrose-containing: 37.5±0.1°C, sugar-free: 37.5±0.3 °C; p=0.914), peak core temperature (sucrose-containing: 37.8±0.2°C, sugar-free: 37.9±0.3 °C; p=0.398), and percent changes in body mass (sucrose-containing: -0.5±0.4%, sugar-free: -0.3±0.6%; p=0.386) did not differ between groups. [IGFBP7∙TIMP-2]USG increased in both groups (time effect: p=0.0254) with no drink (p=0.675) or interaction (p=0.715) effects. Peak change [IGFBP7∙TIMP-2]USG did not differ between sucrose-containing (median 0.0116 [-0.0012, 0.1760] (ng/mL)²/1000) and sugar-free (median 0.0021 [0.0003, 0.2077] (ng/mL)²/1000; p=0.796). Sucrose-containing sports drink consumption during simulated occupational heat stress does not modify acute kidney injury risk when compared to sugar free-sport drink consumption.