Observed Heamatological and Neurohistochemical Alterations in Hippocampal formation Of Adult Wistar Rats (Rattus norvegicus) following Sub-acute Monosodium Glutamate Exposure

Introduction: Exposure to harmful substances either by biological, chemical or physical agents which can result to changes with memory cognition underlines neurotoxicity. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a combination of sodium and glutamic acid primarily used as a flavoring enhancer in food processing. The hippocampus is a part of the limbic system that helps in both spatial memory and the consolidation of information from short-term to long-term memory. Aim: To assess the Heamatological and Neurohistochemical effects of Monosodium Glutamate on Hippocampus of adult wistar rats. Methods: Thirty (30) adult wistar rats weighing 200±50g were randomly assigned into 3 groups (n=10). The control group received distilled water, T1 group received 2g/kg bd.wt of MSG and T2 group received 2g/kg bd.wt of MSG. All the rats were exposed for a duration of 4 weeks except T2 group that were allowed a 2-week withdrawal period. The animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation followed by hippocampal specimen’s excision which were processed for routine histological staining techniques, Heamatological studies and biochemical quantifications. All data obtained were statistically analyzed using GraphPad prism version 5. Results: The Body weight (P value=0.4478), Brain weight(P value< 0.0001), Organ weight (P value < 0.0001), LDH (P value < 0.0001), SOD (P value < 0.0001), CAT (P value < 0.0001), PCV (P value=0.0080), Hb (P value=0.0537) and RBC (P value=0.0005) showed significant decrease at T1 groups and significant increase at T2 groups while the WBC (P value < 0.0001) shows a significant increase at T1 and a significant decrease at T2 when compared to the control groups. The histological findings showed the alterations in the hippocampal architecture of the T1 group and slight regeneration of hippocampal tissues in T2 group when compared to the control group. Conclusion: These findings add to a thorough comprehension of the neurobiological impacts of MSG and highlight the need for dietary guidelines and legislative actions to protect brain function.