Effect of hypothalamic arcuate nucleus damaged by monosodium glutamate on bone histomorphometry parameters in rat

AIM: To investigate the effect of hypothalamic arcuate nucleus(ARC) damaged by monosodium glutamate (MSG) on bone histomorphometry parameters in rats. METHODS: (1) Newborn SD rats of experimental group were hypodermically injected 10% MSG (4 g/kg BW) on the postnatal lst, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th day. Meanwhile, the newborn rats of the control group were given equal volume of normal saline and the rats after the postnatal 70th, 72th, 74th, 76th and 78th day were hypodermically injected 10% MSG (4 g/kg BW) as the MSG toxicity control group. After survivial for 160 days, all rats were killed. (2) Morphological methods were used to estimate the ARC neurons and the bone histomorphometry parameters. (3) Radioimmunoassay was used to measure the levels of the serum growth hormoen(GH), estradiol(E2) and testosterone(T). RESULTS: The number of the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus neurons, the levels of serum E2, T, GH and the %Tb·Ar, Tb·Th, Tb·N of proximal tibial metaphysis(PTM) significantly decreased, while Tb·Sp of proximal tibial metaphysis(PTM) significantly increased, and the osteoporotic alterations appeared obviously. All these changes did not appear in the rats of NS group and MSG toxicity control group. CONCLUSION: (1) The changes of the bone in MSG guoup rats are not the effect of the MSG toxicity on the bone directly. (2) The hypothalamic arcuate nucleus participates in the regulation of the bone metabolism. (3) ARC regulates bone metabolism via altering the functions of the hypothalamus-GH-IGF-1 axis and the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonal axis.