ABSTRACT
Food additives are chemical substances added intentionally to food stuffs to preserve, color, sweeten and flavor food. Monosodium glutamate [MSG] is used as a flavor enhancer and found in most soups, salad dressing and processed meat. The use of MSG in food is growing. Irrational fear had increased in the last few years due to the adverse reactions and toxicity of MSG. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of MSG on the rat liver and the ameliorating effect of taurine analog "Guanidinoethane sulfonic acid [GES]". Sixty albino rats [2-3 months old] were used in the present study. MSG was given orally at a daily dose of 60 mg/1000 g for one month, two months and was given at a daily dose of 100mg/1000gm for one month. The results revealed that the deleterious effects of MSG were dose related and cumulative. In MSG treated rats, the examined sections showed remarkable alterations varied considerably from moderate structural changes to cytoplasmic lysis and signs of degeneration of cellular organelles. The histological changes showed disturbed liver architecture, hemorrhage in the central veins, areas of necrosis, vacuolation and increased inflammatory cells infiltration. The glycogen granules increased as well as the collagen fibers in the liver cells. Ultrastructural changes showed loss of cytoplasmic differentiation, vacuolation, pyknotic nuclei with irregular nuclear membranes and elongated electron dense mitochondria. Conversely, treatment of rats with taurine analog [GES] significantly attenuated the cellular toxicity of MSG