Abstract
Taurine is in high concentration in the milk of most mammals. Intraperitoneal injection of [35S]taurine into lactating rats leads to the appearance of label in the milk, and the dpm/ml milk are significantly decreased by treatment with guanidinoethyl sulfonate (GES), an analog of taurine. Pups nursed by GES-treated mothers have retinal taurine levels about 45% lower than controls during the period from birth to 17 days old suggesting a dependence of retinal taurine on dietary intake during the neonatal period. These deficits in taurine may be associated with visual dysfunction as seen in adult rats depleted of retinal taurine.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Schmidt, S. Y., Berson, E. L., andHayes, K. C. 1976. Retinal degeneration in cats fed casein. I. Taurine deficiency. Invest. Ophthal. Vis. Sci. 15:47–52.
Lake, N. 1981. Taurine in rat retina: developmental studies. Invest. Ophthal. Vis. Sci. 20: ARVO Suppl. 80.
Lake, N. 1981. Abnormal visual function induced by depletion of retinal taurine in rats. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 7:279.
Lake, N. 1982. Is taurine an essential amino acid? Retina 2:261–262.
Rassin, D. K., Sturman, J. A., andGaull, G. E. 1978. Taurine and other free amino acids in milk of man and other mammals. Early Hum. Dev. 2:1–13.
Sturman, J. A., andHayes, K. C. 1980. The biology of taurine in nutrition and development. Adv. Nutr. Res. 3:231–299.
Gaull, G. E., Raissin, D. K., Raiha, N. C. R., andHeinonen, K. 1977. Milk protein quantity and quality in low-birth-weight infants III. Effects on sulfur amino acids in plasma and urine. J. Pediatr. 90:348–355.
Huxtable, R. J., Laird, H. E., andLippincott, S. 1979. The transport of taurine in the heart and the rapid depletion of tissue taurine content by guanidinoethyl sulfonate. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 211:465–471.
Lake, N. 1981. Depletion of retinal taurine by treatment with guanidinoethyl sulfonate. Life Sci. 29:445–448.
Lake, N. 1982. Depletion of taurine in the adult rat retina. Neurochem. Res. 7:1385–1390.
Bradford, M. M. 1976. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein using the principle of dye-binding. Analyt. Biochem. 72:248–254.
Sturman, J. A., Rassin, D. K., andGaull, G. E. 1977. Taurine in developing rat brain: transfer of35S-taurine to pups via the milk. Pediatr. Res. 11:28–33.
Huxtable, R. J. 1981. Sources and turnover rates of taurine in nursing and weaned rat pups. J. Nutr. 111:1275–1286.
Jacobsen, J. G., andSmith, L. H. 1968. Biochemistry and physiology of taurine and taurine derivatives. Physiol. Rev. 48:424–511.
Jonxis, J. H. P. 1951. The influences of differences in food on the amino acid excretion. Arch. Dis. Child. 26:272.
Jagenburg, O. R. 1959. The urinary excretion of free amino acids and other amino compounds by the human. Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Invest. (Suppl. 43) 11:3–183.
Geggel, H. S., Heckenlively, J. R., Martin, D. A., Ament, M. E., andKopple, J. D. 1981. Human retinal dysfunction with taurine deficiency. Invest. Ophthal. Vis. Sci. 20: ARVO Suppl. 239.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lake, N. Taurine depletion of lactating rats: Effects on developing pups. Neurochem Res 8, 881–887 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00964549
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00964549