Metabolic Changes in Salivary Glands of Rats under Glutamate-Induced Obesity

In the past two decades, the world has seen a sustained increase in obesity, and the levels of overweight and obese persons worldwide have reached epidemic proportions. It is well established that obesity induces all major metabolic disorders, especially diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and fatty liver disease. Obesity is one of the urgent medical concerns that mainly associated with low physical activity, the growth of high caloric feeding as well as the uncontrolled use of food additives, especially monosodium glutamate. There is a close relation between obesity and oral health. Obesity is associated with hypo salivation and thereby related to several aspects of oral health. However, pathological mechanisms involved in the impact of obesity to salivary glands are not fully established. On experimental model of obesity induced by monosodium glutamate metabolic changes were studied in the tissues of salivary glands of rats. Administration of monosodium glutamate in the neonatal period leads to the development of obesity in four -month-old rats. Under monosodium glutamate - induced - obesity there are metabolic changes in salivary glands of rats such as marked elevation in the activity of NО-synthase and the maintenance of nitrites, significant decrease of activity of ornithine decarboxylase and α-amylase, increasing activity of general proteinases and significant decreasing of general proteinases inhibitors maintenance, significant increase of oxidative modified proteins. Conclusion: Under experimental obesity induced by monosodium glutamate pathological changes in salivary glands tissues appear such as intensification of free-radical oxidation, misbalance of proteolysis by decompensated type, decreased protein synthesis function, misbalance of polyamines and NO-ergic systems.