Monosodium Glutamate Dietary Consumption Decreases Pancreatic β-Cell Mass in Adult Wistar Rats.

Background: The amount of dietary monosodium glutamate (MSG) is increasing worldwide, in parallel with the epidemics of metabolic syndrome. Parenteral administration of MSG to rodents induces obesity, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. However, the impact of dietary MSG is still being debated.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) consumption is associated with urolithiasis and urinary tract obstruction in rats.

Background: The peritoneal injection of monosodium glutamate (MSG) can induce kidney injury in adult rats but the effects of long-term oral intake have not been determined.

Methods: We investigated the kidney histology and function in adult male Wistar rats that were fed ad libitum with a standard rat chow pellet and water with or without the addition of 2 mg/g body weight MSG/day in drinking water (n=10 per group). Both MSG-treated and control animals were sacrificed after 9 months when renal function parameters, blood and urine electrolytes, and tissue histopathology were determined.

Response to Dr. Roger's letter: further studies are necessary in order to conclude a causal association between the consumption of monosodium L-glutamate (MSG) and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the rural Thai population.

: See related article: http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/10/1/14.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) intake is associated with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in a rural Thai population.

Background: Epidemiology and animal models suggest that dietary monosodium glutamate (MSG) may contribute to the onset of obesity and the metabolic syndrome.

Methods: Families (n = 324) from a rural area of Thailand were selected and provided MSG as the sole source for the use in meal preparation for 10 days. Three hundred forty-nine subjects aged 35-55 years completed the study and were evaluated for energy and nutrient intake, physical activity, and tobacco smoking.

Extensive characterizations of bacteria isolated from catheterized urine and stone matrices in patients with nephrolithiasis.

Background: Urinary tract infections are generally known to be associated with nephrolithiasis, particularly struvite stone, in which the most common microbe found is urea-splitting bacterium, i.e. Proteus mirabilis.

Metabolic enzymes, antioxidants, and cytoskeletal proteins are significantly altered in vastus lateralis muscle of K-depleted cadaveric subjects.

Molecular mechanisms underlying myopathy caused by prolonged potassium (K) depletion remain poorly understood. In the present study, we examined proteome profile of vastus lateralis muscle obtained from cadaveric subjects who had K depletion (KD) (muscle K<80 micromol/g wet weight) compared to those who had no KD (NKD) (muscle K>or=80 micromol/g wet weight) (n=6 per group). Muscle proteins were extracted, resolved by 2-DE, and visualized with CBB-R250 stain.

Serial analyses of postmortem changes in human skeletal muscle: A case study of alterations in proteome profile, histology, electrolyte contents, water composition, and enzyme activity.

Postmortem tissues are frequently used in forensic investigation, clinical studies, and biomedical research. It is well known that the shorter period from death to analyses provides the more accurate results. However, the longest postmortem interval that still provides the reliable data remains unclear.

K+, Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, and water contents in human skeletal muscle: correlations among these monovalent and divalent cations and their alterations in K+ -depleted subjects.

None of previous studies had simultaneously analyzed the K(+), Na(+), Mg(2+), and Ca(2+) contents in human skeletal muscle. We examined extensively and simultaneously the levels of all these cations and examined water content in vastus lateralis and pectoralis major muscles in 30 northeastern Thai men who were apparently healthy but died from an accident. Specimen collection was performed within 6 h of death.