Monosodium Glutamate but not Linoleic Acid Differentially Activates Gustatory Neurons in the Rat Geniculate Ganglion

摘要

To date,only one study has examined responses to monosodium glutamate (MSG) from gustatory neurons in the rat geniculate ganglion and none to free fatty acids.Accordingly,we recorded single-cell responses from geniculate ganglion gustatory neurons in anesthetized male rats to MSG and linoleic acid (LA),as well as to sucrose,NaCI,citric acid,and quinine hydrochloride.None of the 52 neurons responded to any LA concentration.In contrast,both narrowly tuned groups of gustatory neurons (sucrose specialists and NaCI specialists) responded to MSG,as did 2 of the broadly tuned groups (NaCI generalist_1 and acid generalists).NaCI-generalist_(||) neurons responded only to the highest MSG concentration and only at low rates.No neuron type responded best to MSG;rather,responses to 0.1 M MSG were significantly less than those to NaCI for Na+-sensitive neurons and to sucrose for sucrose specialists.Interestingly,most Na+-sensitive neurons responded to 0.3 M MSG at levels comparable with those to 0.1 M NaCI,whereas sucrose specialists responded to 0.1 M MSG despite being unresponsive to NaCI.These results suggest that the stimulatory effect of MSG involves activation of sweet-or salt-sensitive receptors.We propose that glutamate underlies the MSG response of sucrose specialists,whereas Na+-sensitive neurons respond to the sodium cation.For the latter neuron groups,the large glutamate anion may reduce the driving force for sodium through epithelial channels on taste cell membranes.The observed concentration-dependent responses are consistent with this idea,as are cross-adaptation studies using 0.1 M concentrations of MSG and NaCI in subsets of these Na+-sensitive neurons.