Taurine is an important regulator of cellular ion transport and osmotic balance, aspects that are pivotal to renal function. The kidney not only regulates body taurine status, but emerging information also suggests that body taurine status is of consequence for renal function. While reduction in endogenous taurine stores can attenuate renal excretory function, exogenous taurine supplementation ...

Although it has been suggested that taurine is the main endogenous neurotransmitter acting on glycine receptors, the implications of glycine receptor-mediated taurine actions on immature neocortical networks have not been addressed yet. To investigate the influence of taurine on the excitability of neuronal networks in the immature neocortex, we performed whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from ...

The substantia gelatinosa (SG) of the trigeminal subnucleus caudalis (Vc) has been known for the processing and transmission of orofacial nociceptive information. Taurine, one of the most plentiful free amino-acids in humans, has proved to be involved in pain modulation. In this study, using whole-cell patch clamp technique, we investigated the direct membrane effects of taurine and the action ...

Cultured bovine aortic endothelial (BAE) cells expressed a Na(+)/Cl(-)-dependent taurine uptake activity that saturated with an apparent K(0.5) of approximately 4.9 microM for taurine and was inhibited by beta-alanine, guanidinoethane sulfonate, and homotaurine. We isolated a taurine transporter clone from a BAE cell cDNA library that revealed >91% sequence identity at the amino acid level to t...

Net taurine transport across the frog retinal pigment epithelium-choroid was measured as a function of extracellular potassium concentration, [K+]o. The net rate of retina-to-choroid transport increased monotonically as [K+]o increased from 0.2 mM to 2 mM on the apical (neural retinal) side of the tissue. No further increase was observed when [k+]o was elevated to 5 mM. The [K+]o changes that m...

Taurine is involved in various physiological processes, and one of the most abundant amino acids in human. The aim was to investigate the mechanism for intestinal absorption of taurine in vivo using also in vitro mechanistic studies. Taurine absorption was measured in male Sprague-Dawley rats at 10-997 mg/kg and 1-30 mg/kg for oral and intravenous administration, respectively. Oral absorption w...

The effects of a low protein diet on the excretion of sulfate and taurine, major metabolites of L-cysteine in mammals, were studied in rats fed with synthetic 10% (group A) and 25% (group B) casein diets. The average excretions of total taurine (taurine plus hypotaurine) and total sulfate (free plus ester sulfate) (mumol/kg of body weight per day after the adaptation to the synthetic diet) in g...

Taurine and zinc, highly concentrated in the retina, have neurotrophic effects in the central nervous system. Zinc modulates Na+/Cldependent transporters, such as those of dopamine and taurine (TAUT) in vitro, although there is no evidence of in vivo effects of zinc. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the consequences of zinc deficiency on taurine levels and transport, and mRN...

Taurine has been demonstrated to be a conditionally indispensable nutrient for several carnivorous fish species. Currently, trout feeds contain reduced levels of fishmeal which had been the primary source of dietary taurine. The reduction of fishmeal in the diet, and thus dietary taurine, may limit growth. A 12-week feeding trial was conducted using a factorial treatment design with taurine sup...

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal muscle wasting disease manifested in young boys, for which there is no current cure. We have shown that the amino acid taurine is safe and effective at preventing dystropathology in the mdx mouse model for DMD. This study aimed to establish if treating growing mdx mice with a higher dose of taurine was more effective at improving strength and reducin...