Chronic Administration of Monosodium Glutamate under Chronic Variable Stress Impaired Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Function in Rats

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is the primary endocrine system to respond to stress. The HPA axis may be affected by increased level of corticotrophin-releasing factors under chronic stress and by chronic administration of monosodium glutamate (MSG). The purpose of this study was to investigate whether chronic MSG administration aggravates chronic variable stress (CVS)-induced behavioral and hormonal changes. Twenty-four adult male Sprague-Dawley rats, weighing 200~220 g, were divided into 4 groups as follows: water administration (CON), MSG (3 g/kg) administration (MSG), CVS, and CVS with MSG (3 g/kg) administration (CVS+MSG). In addition, for the purpose of comparing the effect on plasma corticosterone levels between chronic stress and daily care or acute stress, 2 groups were added at the end of the experiment; the 2 new groups were as follows: naive mice (n=7) and mice exposed to restraint stress for 2 h just before decapitation (A-Str, n=7). In an open field test performed after the experiment, the CVS+MSG group significant decrease in activity. The increase in relative adrenal weights in the CVS and CVS+MSG group was significantly greater than those in the CON and/or MSG groups. In spite of the increase in the relative adrenal weight, there was a significant decrease in the plasma corticosterone levels in the CVS+MSG group as compared to all other groups, except the naive group. These results suggest that impaired HPA axis function as well as the decrease in the behavioral activity in adult rats can be induced by chronic MSG administration under CVS rather than CVS alone.

College Students' Dietary and Health Behaviors related to Their Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Personality Preferences / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The objective of this study was to evaluate college students' dietary and health behaviors in relation to their Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality preferences. Dietary and health behaviors were surveyed for 444 college students who performed the MBTI personality test. Only 6.1% of the subjects regularly had three meals a day, while 27.1% ate breakfast every day. Fifty-six point nine percent of the students took less than 15 minutes to eat a meal and had the habit of eating fast. The number of food groups they ate was, on average, 2.74 and was eaten mainly at dinner. This showed that college students did not eat a large variety of foods. Eighty-two percent of the subjects drank alcoholic beverages, 21.4% smoked, and 69.3% exercised. In addition, 73.9% of them were not satisfied with their body image, but they were not eager to try weight control. There were not many significant differences between Extraversion (E)-Introversion (I), Sensing (S)-iNtuition (N), and Thinking (T)-Feeling (F) in their dietary and heath behaviors, although some gender differences existed. Significantly better dietary and health behaviors were shown in subjects preferring Judging (J) rather than Perceiving (P). There behaviors included eating breakfast, regularly eating three meals a day, smoking less, exercising more and having a lower tendency to night-eating. The personality preference of J-P could be useful index for nutritional education and counseling or behavior modification programs for obese people.