Amelioration of the Mono-Sodium Glutamate-Induced Hepatotoxicity and Nephrotoxicity by Ascorbic Acid and Vitamin E

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Amelioration of the mono-sodium glutamate-induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity by ascorbic acid and Vitamin E By: Joselle Daraug Gleeshyn Camarillo Feljo Oliverio Elfie Abelong Joseph Pulvera Aryan Espuerta Chapter 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Toxicity is defined as any harmful effect of a chemical or a drug on a target organism (Wallace, 1982). Nephrotoxicity (from the Greek; Nephros, “Kidney”) is the property of harming kidney cells or causing kidney failure (Jonas, 2005) while Hepatoxicity (from Hepatic toxicity) is the quality or condition of being toxic or destructive to the liver (American Heritage® Dictionary, 2000). Mono-sodium glutamate (MSG), a chemical known as 2-amino pentane dioic or 2-amino glutaric acid, is the sodium salt of the non-essential amino acid; glutamic acid which is commonly used as a flavor enhancer especially in Chinese, Thai, and Japanese foods. Furthermore, it is also added to the food either as a purified monosodium salt or as a component of a mixture of amino acids and small peptides resulting from the acid or enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins (Schwartz, 2004). This flavor enhancer, not very long ago, was isolated in the laboratory, and identified as Monosodium glutamate. At a later stage, this flavor gained immense popularity worldwide. There is a substantial evidence that the sensory basis for this effect is that MSG stimulates the sense of taste (Garattini, 2000). Since then, it has been in use widely in restaurants (particularly mixed in noodles, soups etc.), packaged food industries and household kitchens. It is sold under trade name as Ajinomoto and considered as a popular condiment in West African dishes. Moreover, modern commercial MSG is produced by fermentation of starch, sugar, beet sugarcane, or molasses (Walker & Lupien , 2000). This is particularly disturbing given that

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