The characteristics of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) uptake were investigated in apical membrane vesicles prepared from the bovine retinal pigment epithelium. An inwardly directed NaCl gradient stimulated GABA uptake markedly, and the time course of uptake exhibited an overshoot phenomenon indicating the presence of an active transport mechanism for GABA in these membranes. Other monovalent ca...

PURPOSE To evaluate changes in glutathione and NAD(P)-redox status, taurine and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, glucose utilization, and energy metabolism in diabetic precataractous lenses and to assess whether these changes can be prevented with dietary taurine supplementation. METHODS The experimental groups included control and streptozotocin-diabetic rats with a 3-week duration of diabetes ...

Taurine, a sulfur-containing amino acid (Figure), has been termed a functional nutrient that could be used to protect against, among others, diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis.1 Indeed, an increasing body of literature supports the use of taurine supplements. Because taurine has very diverse functions, notably, intracellular osmoregulation and bile acid formation, and is abundantly present i...

Taurine was extracted from Pegasus laternarius Cuvier to study its effects on learning and memory in mice. Mice were treated with different doses of taurine (10 mg/kg, 20 mg/kg, 40 mg/kg). The mice were treated with various chemical agents (pentobarbital, cycloheximide, sodium nitrite, alcohol) to disrupt the normal memory process. We measured the effect of taurine on step-down latency (SDL) an...

Taurine acts as a partial agonist at the glycine receptor (GlyR) in some brain regions such as the hippocampus, striatum, and nucleus accumbens. Ethanol, volatile anesthetics, and inhaled drugs of abuse are all known positive allosteric modulators of GlyRs, but their effects on taurine-activated GlyRs remain poorly understood, especially their effects on the high concentrations of taurine likel...

Taurine, a major osmolyte of vertebrate hearts, is released from the skate heart at increased rates during hypotonic stress. We tested the hypothesis that this taurine release is mediated by chloride channels activated by swelling. Two inhibitors of the channels, NPPB and DIDS, inhibited the volume-activated release of taurine from embryonic skate hearts. These results support the hypothesis th...

AIMS Glucocorticoids are the sole drugs clinically used in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, in spite of the relevant side effects. Combination of glucocorticoids with synergistic drugs may be one strategy to lower doses and control side effects, meanwhile providing wider control of the complex pathology. This study is a preclinical evaluation of the effect of a combined treatment of α-methyl-predni...

The model hydrogen peroxide-myeloperoxidase-chloride system is capable of generating the powerful oxidant hypochlorous acid, which can be quantitated by trapping the generated species with the beta-amino acid, taurine. The resultant stable product, taurine chloramine, can be quantitated by its ability to oxidize the sulfhydryl compound, 5-thio-2-nitro-benzoic acid to the disulfide, 5,5'-dithiob...

The accumulation of <C-taurine in the lens was studied by culture technique under a variety of conditions. This compound accumidates in the ocular lens against a concentration gradient by a process lohich can be readily saturated. The saturation mechanism does not conform to Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The transport process is highly dependent upon temperature (Qio = 5), and derives the energy r...