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Taurine Partially Improves Abnormal Anxiety in Taurine-Deficient Mice

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Taurine 11

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1155))

Abstract

Taurine is abundant in various tissues including the brain, muscle, heart, spleen, liver and kidney with various physiological functions. Since taurine is produced by cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase (CSAD) in the liver and kidney, taurine-deficient mice without CSAD have been investigated for abnormal physiological functions such as retinal development, immune, pancreatic and liver function. In this study, the behavioral effects and abnormal brain development caused by low taurine in the developing brain were examined. In neonatal brains of homozygous CSAD knockout mice (HO), taurine was reduced by 85%, compared to wild-type mice (WT). Taurine was reduced by 35% in the brains of 2 month-old HO, compared to WT. Anxiety, motor coordination and autistic-like behaviors were evaluated at 2 months of age using five behavioral tests: elevated plus maze, open field, social approach, marble burying and accelerating rotarod. Mice were tested from 3 groups including WT, HO and HO with oral treatment of 0.2% taurine in the drinking water (HOT). HOT were born from HO dams treated with taurine from before pregnancy and were continuously treated with taurine in the drinking water after weaning. The taurine levels in the brain and plasma of HOT were restored to WT at 2 months of age. Taurine-deficiency did not lead to changes in autistic-like behaviors as the HO were not significantly different from WT in marble burying and social approach. However, taurine-deficiency increased anxiety-like behavior in HO in the elevated plus maze and open field, compared to WT. Taurine treatment significantly restored the HOT to WT levels of anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze. However, changes in exploratory activity in the open field were not improved with taurine treatment. There was a slight difference in motor ability as the WT mice stayed on the accelerating rotarod longer that the HO and HOT, but the difference was significant in the HOT during the first trial only, compared to WT.

These data support hypothesis that taurine is essential for the emotional development of the brain. First, taurine is remarkably low in the neonatal brain of HO, compared to the adult brain of HO. Second, taurine treatment in HO partially improves anxiety-like behavior to WT.

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Abbreviations

CSAD:

cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase

CSAD KO:

cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase knock-out mice

CDO:

cysteine dioxygenase

CDO KO:

cysteine dioxygenase knock-out mice

ADO:

cysteamine (2-aminoethanethiol) dioxygenase

GADL 1:

glutamate decarboxylase-like 1

GADL 1 KO:

glutamate decarboxylase-like 1 knock-out mice

TauT:

taurine transporter

TauT KO:

taurine transporter knock-out mice

WT:

wild-type mice (CSAD+/+)

HT:

heterozygotic mice (CSAD+/−)

HO:

homozygotic mice (CSAD−/−)

HOT:

homozygotic mice treated with 0.2% taurine in the drinking water

ASD:

autistic spectrum disorder

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, Albany, NY and Dong A Pharmaceutical Co., LTD, Seoul, Korea. We are thankful to Dr. William Levis and H Cliff Meeker for discussing the research and reviewing this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Developmental Neurobiology, New York Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, Staten Island, NY, USA

    Eunkyue Park, Georgia Schuller-Levis & Kathryn K. Chadman

  2. Department of Biological Science, College of Staten Island, Staten Island, NY, USA

    Abdeslem Elidrissi

Authors
  1. Eunkyue Park
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  2. Abdeslem Elidrissi
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  3. Georgia Schuller-Levis
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  4. Kathryn K. Chadman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eunkyue Park .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China

    Jianmin Hu

  2. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Dalian Medicine University, Dalian, Liaoning, China

    Fengyuan Piao

  3. Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA

    Stephen W. Schaffer

  4. Department of Biology, Center for Developmental Neuroscience, College of Staten Island, Staten Island, NY, USA

    Abdeslem El Idrissi

  5. Department of Biomedical Science, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA

    Jang-Yen Wu

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Park, E., Elidrissi, A., Schuller-Levis, G., Chadman, K.K. (2019). Taurine Partially Improves Abnormal Anxiety in Taurine-Deficient Mice. In: Hu, J., Piao, F., Schaffer, S., El Idrissi, A., Wu, JY. (eds) Taurine 11. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1155. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8023-5_76

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