Monosodium glutamate below the neurotoxic doses has no cytotoxic effect on mouse mesenchymal stem cells

Objective: Monosodium glutamate appear as a food additive that listed in the group of flavor enhancers is continuously used in various types of foods. Monosodium glutamate is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, one of the most abundant naturally-occurring non-essential amino acids. U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that monosodium glutamate is safe for use in food. However, the excessive use of monosodium glutamate causes dizziness, nausea and vomiting. Due to reports, it causes obesity. In this study it was aimed to find out the cytotoxicity of monosodium glutamate and the role on the selected genes, which have role on obesity. Method: In our study, mice were used which are known to be the most sensitive in terms of toxicity. The cytotoxic effects of monosodium glutamate on mouse mesenchymal stem cells at monosodium glutamate doses below the blood dose ( 100-130 µmol/dl) that reported as the neuronal damage threshold in mice were studied . Furthermore leptin-lep and ghrelin / obestatin in prepropeptide-GHRL gene expressions in order to find out the role of monosodium glutamate in obesity were analyzed. Results: Monosodium glutamate below the toxic dose does not have a cytotoxic effect on mouse mesenchymal stem cells. Also no expression change in applied monosodium glutamate doses was observed in genes which are known to be associated with obesity. Conclusions: Our results support that monosodium glutamate has no toxic effect on stem cells in uses in certain doses.