IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i20p13611-d948367.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Perspective: Might Maternal Dietary Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) Consumption Impact Pre- and Peri-Implantation Embryos and Their Subsequent Development?

Author

Listed:
  • Lon J. Van Winkle

    (Department of Biochemistry, Midwestern University, Downers Grove, IL 60515, USA
    Department of Medical Humanities, Rocky Vista University, 8401 S. Chambers Road, Parker, CO 80112, USA)

Abstract

MSG alters metabolism, especially in the brain, when administered to experimental animals via gavage or similar means. Such administration is, however, not applicable to humans. More recently, though, MSG was shown to have these effects even when added to the food of mammals. Moreover, the levels of MSG in food needed to cause these metabolic changes are the same as those needed for optimum flavor enhancement. Near physiological concentrations of glutamate also cause mammalian blastocysts to develop with fewer cells, especially in their inner cell masses, when these embryos are cultured with this amino acid. We propose that consumption of MSG in food may overwhelm the otherwise well-regulated glutamate signaling needed for optimal development by pre- and peri-implantation mammalian embryos. In addition to immediate changes in cellular proliferation and differentiation as embryos develop, MSG ingestion during early pregnancy might result in undesirable conditions, including metabolic syndrome, in adults. Since these conditions are often the result of epigenetic changes, they could become transgenerational. In light of these possibilities, we suggest several studies to test the merit of our hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Lon J. Van Winkle, 2022. "Perspective: Might Maternal Dietary Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) Consumption Impact Pre- and Peri-Implantation Embryos and Their Subsequent Development?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-8, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13611-:d:948367
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13611/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13611/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bryce W. Carey & Lydia W. S. Finley & Justin R. Cross & C. David Allis & Craig B. Thompson, 2015. "Intracellular α-ketoglutarate maintains the pluripotency of embryonic stem cells," Nature, Nature, vol. 518(7539), pages 413-416, February.
    2. Lon J. Van Winkle & Vasiliy Galat & Philip M. Iannaccone, 2020. "Lysine Deprivation during Maternal Consumption of Low-Protein Diets Could Adversely Affect Early Embryo Development and Health in Adulthood," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-9, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rebecca Jean Ryznar & Lacie Phibbs & Lon J. Van Winkle, 2021. "Epigenetic Modifications at the Center of the Barker Hypothesis and Their Transgenerational Implications," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Tao Zhang & Sarah E. Noll & Jesus T. Peng & Amman Klair & Abigail Tripka & Nathan Stutzman & Casey Cheng & Richard N. Zare & Alexandra J. Dickinson, 2023. "Chemical imaging reveals diverse functions of tricarboxylic acid metabolites in root growth and development," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Tom P. Fleming & Congshan Sun & Oleg Denisenko & Laura Caetano & Anan Aljahdali & Joanna M. Gould & Pooja Khurana, 2021. "Environmental Exposures around Conception: Developmental Pathways Leading to Lifetime Disease Risk," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-19, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13611-:d:948367. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.