Abstract
Observation of reduced levels of glutamic acid and aspartic acid in brain of weanling rats exposed perinatally to aspartame prompted a study of the effect of this food additive on glutamatergic receptor kinetics. Aspartame 500 mg/kg/day in drinking water was administered to Sprague-Dawley rats throughout gestation and lactation. Brain was excised from weanlings 20–22 days old, and kinetics of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor and total glutamatergic binding in cerebral cortex and hippocampus were found to be unaffected by perinatal exposure to high levels of aspartame. Glutamic acid was decreased in both brain regions studied, and aspartic acid was decreased in hippocampus following perinatal aspartame exposure. These changes were reversible when aspartame administration was terminated. It is concluded that perinatal exposure to high doses of aspartame does not alter glutamatergic neurotransmission in cerebral cortex or hippocampus from weanling rats.
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