The effect of consuming a sucrose-containing sports drink on acute kidney injury risk during a 4 h 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 4 h of simulated occupational heat stress. Ten healthy adults consumed a sucrose-containing or sugar-free sport drink ad libitum during 4 h exposures to wet bulb globe temperatures of ~28 °C. Thirty 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 = 0.025) 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.