الفهرس 
Introduction &Aim of the workOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of the non-essential amino acid-glutamic acid .It contains 78% of glutamic acid, 22% of sodium and water. Monosodium glutamate is widely used as a food additive to improve the taste of food .Despite its taste stimulation and improved appetite enhancement, some reports indicated that excess MSG is toxic to and experimental animals and human.
The body uses glutamate as a nerve impulse transmitter in the brain, and that there are glutamate responsive tissues in other parts of the body.
Glutamate in high doses produces neuroendocrine abnormalities and neuronal degeneration and oxidative damage in different organs.
The spleen is the largest secondary lymphoid organ and is considered the draining site for compounds that are administered intravenously, and is therefore considered animportant organ to evaluate for treatment-related lesions. The immunotoxic effects of xenobiotics or their metabolites on these cell populations may be reflected in the spleen due to presence of B and T lymphocytes. Therefore, it is one of the recommended organs to evaluate for enhanced histopathology of the immune system.
This study was performed to highlight on the histopathological alterations of the spleen of adult male albino rats treated with MSG and possible protective role of ascorbic acid.
Ascorbic acid is natural antioxidant that prevents the increased production of free radicals induced by oxidative damage to various cellular components so ascorbic acid as antioxidant has protective role against MSG toxicity.
Since ascorbic acid together with MSG may be present in human diet. so, it is necessary to evaluate the possible protective effects of ascorbic acid in MSG induced toxicity.
The present study was carried out on 30 adult male albino rats, weighing from 190 to 200 gm. The animals were divided into three groups 10 animals for each. group Ι was served as control group. group Π was treated with MSG 4 ml\kg b.w\day intrapeitoneally for 14 days. group ΠΙ were received same previous dose of MSG simultaneously with ascorbic acid 500 mg\kg b.w\day intraperitoneally for 14 days.
At the end of the experiment, the animals were sacrificed 24 hours from the last dose after being anaesthetized by ether. The spleens were excised and processed for histological studies.
Our results revealed that:
1- Exposure to MSG showed prominent histological changes. These changes were in the form of distortion of splenic architecture,atrophy of white pulp, degeneration of some lymphocytes with vacuolated cytoplasm . Dilatation and congestion of the blood sinusoids were also observed.
2- MSG caused an apparent increase in the reticular fibers of capsule, trabeculae and stroma of spleen.
3- Immunostaining for T helper lymphocytes and macrophages showed an apparent decrease in the number of CD4 and CD68 positive cells
4- group of rats administrated vitamin C with MSG showed an improvement in pathological changes in comparison with a group of rats received MSG only. This improvement include restoration of splenic architecture with a significant increase in CD4 and CD68 positive cells
In conclusion
The results of this study have shown that MSG led to histopathological changes in spleen .these changes were significantly prevented by simultaneous administration of ascorbic acid with MSG.