Effect of Monosodium glutamate on the ovaries of female sprawgle-dawley rats

ABSTRACT                                            Keywords  Monosodium glutamate; histopathology; female infertility; ovaries: sprague- dawley rats Fear  has  increased  in  recent  years,  due  to  the  adverse  reactions  and  toxicity  of monosodium  glutamate  (MSG)  which  is  commonly  used  as  a  food  additive  and there  is  growing  concern  that  this  may  play  a  critical  role  in  both  male  and  female infertility.  The  effect  of  analar  and  food  grade  monosodium  glutamate  (MSG)  on the  ovaries  of  Sprague-Dawley  rats  was  studied.  Fifty  female  Sprague-dawley  rats with  an  average  weight  of  about  100 150g  were  randomly  assigned  into  5  groups A,  B,  C,  D  and  E  of  10  rats  each.  The  treatment  groups  (A,  B  and  C)  were  given 0.10g/kg,  0.15g/kg  and  0.20g/kg  body  weight  of  analar  grade  monosodium glutamate  while  treatment  group  D  was  given  0.20g/kg  body  weight  of  commercial food  grade  monosodium  glutamate  in  1.5ml  of  water,  respectively  on  a  daily  basis. The  control  group  (E)  received  equal  amount  of  water  without  monosodium glutamate  for  fourteen  days.  The  rats  were  sacrificed  on  day  fifteen  of  the experiment.  The  ovaries  were  carefully  dissected  out  and  quickly  fixed  in  10% formal  saline  for  routine  histological  procedures.  Significant  body  weight  increase was  noted  in  MSG  treated  rats  and  the  histological  findings  in  the  treated  groups showed  evidence  of  cellular  hypertrophy,  degenerative  and  atrophic  changes  with more  severe  changes  in  the  group  that  received  0.20g/kg  of  analar  MSG.  These findings  indicate  that  MSG  induced  considerable  structural  changes,  including degenerated  follicles,  oocytes  and  medulla  with  vacuoles  having  congested  blood vessels  in  the  ovaries  of  Sprague-dawley  rats;  these  changes  are  more  severe  at higher doses which may contribute to the causes of female infertility.