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Supplement

Introduction to the Symposium Proceedings¹

John D. Fernstrom^* and Silvio Garattini

^* Departments of Psychiatry, Pharmacology & Neuroscience and Center for Nutrition, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 and Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, 20157 Milan, Italy

	INTRODUCTION

TOP INTRODUCTION REFERENCES

 
Twenty years ago, an International Symposium on the Biochemistry and Physiology of Glutamic Acid was held at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan. The symposium and the published proceedings (Filer et al. 1979 ) evaluated contemporary research findings in several areas, including sensory aspects of glutamic acid (as the sodium salt, monosodium glutamate), metabolic functions of glutamic acid in the body, the putative role of glutamate as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and issues relating to the safety of monosodium glutamate as a food additive. At the time of this symposium, 1978, as evidenced by the proceedings, although a good deal was known about glutamate safety as a food component, remarkably little was known about its physiologic functions.

Today, the situation has clearly changed. In the past 20 years, a remarkable volume of new information has become available that establishes the following roles for glutamate: 1) as a basic taste substance ("umami"), with initial detailing of the receptor properties of glutamate as a tastant in the oral cavity; 2) as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, which has led to the elucidation of multiple glutamate receptors that, when activated, produce a variety of effects on and within affected neurons (and has stimulated a search for therapeutic agents that act through such glutamate receptors); and 3) as a key component of both the nitrogen and energy economies of several organs in the body, including the placenta, liver, gastrointestinal tract and brain. The knowledge base has also been expanded concerning the use and safety of glutamate in foods as a flavoring agent.

In reviewing the wealth of new glutamate data, and recognizing that the many disciplines working on issues of glutamate function rarely intersect, the organizers of the present symposium decided that a great deal of benefit might accrue from a second international (and interdisciplinary) glutamate symposium. Not only would the symposium serve to showcase advances in the many areas of glutamate research during the past two decades, but it would also stimulate future research via a crossfertilization of ideas, approaches and methods among the various scientific disciplines working on glutamate function. Such indeed proved to be the case.

The symposium was thus organized and held in October, 1998 at the Clinical Research Center for Rare Diseases Aldo e Cele Daccó of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Bergamo Italy. It was jointly sponsored by the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, the Baylor College of Medicine, the Center for Nutrition of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the Monell Chemical Senses Center, the International Union of Food Science and Technology, and the Center for Human Nutrition, and was supported by an educational grant from the International Glutamate Technical Committee. The organizing committee members were as follows: Gary K. Beauchamp (Monell Chemical Senses Center), Dennis M. Bier (Baylor College of Medicine), John D. Fernstrom (Chair; University or Pittsburgh School of Medicine), Kenzo Kurihara (Hokkaido University), Brian S. Meldrum (Institute of Psychiatry, London) and Donald D. Stevenson (Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation).

The proceedings follow the broad outline of the symposium. The sensory aspects of glutamic acid are considered first, including work on molecular and pharmacologic aspects of taste receptors responsive to glutamate. The several known roles of glutamic acid in organ and whole-body metabolism follow, and include new perspectives on the function of glutamate in the energy and nitrogen economies of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and placenta. Glutamate function in the central nervous system is then considered, including issues relating to glutamate synthesis and metabolism in brain (and its metabolic compartmentation within neurons and glia), its transport across the blood-brain barrier, its function as a neurotransmitter (and the discovery and elucidation of glutamate receptors) and its role in the etiology (and treatment) of disorders of the central nervous system. A final section evaluates the current status of glutamate safety as a food component, including its purported allergic and neuroendocrine effects in humans.

The editors of this volume, the symposium organizing committee and the sponsors hope that this proceedings will not only highlight the many recent advances in glutamate research, but also foster the future, interdisciplinary interactions that should prove essential in gaining an ultimate understanding of the full extent of glutamate function in human physiology.

	FOOTNOTES

 
¹ Presented at the International Symposium on Glutamate, October 12–14, 1998 at the Clinical Center for Rare Diseases Aldo e Cele Daccó, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Bergamo, Italy. The symposium was sponsored jointly by the Baylor College of Medicine, the Center for Nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the Monell Chemical Senses Center, the International Union of Food Science and Technology, and the Center for Human Nutrition; financial support was provided by the International Glutamate Technical Committee. The proceedings of the symposium are published as a supplement to The Journal of Nutrition. Editors for the symposium publication were John D. Fernstrom, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Silvio Garattini, the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research.

	REFERENCES

TOP INTRODUCTION REFERENCES

 

1. Filer L. J. Garattini S. Kare M. R. Reynolds W. A. Wurtman R. J. eds. Glutamic Acid: Advances in Biochemistry and Physiology 1979 Raven Press New York, NY.

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