Contribution of taurine signatures in the detached cat retina.

Abstract

Taurine is generally critical for photoreceptor development and acts as a cyto-protectant against stress-related neuronal damage and other pathological conditions in the retina. The present study investigates the taurine immunoreactivity of detached cat retinas as a model for ischemia in the neuroepithelial layer of retina and reevaluates taurine immunoreactivity in the normal cat retina by comparing the results obtained from detached retinas fixed by perfusion. In contrast to previous reports based on immersion fixation, the photoreceptor inner segment lacked taurine immunoreactivity in the normal retina. The photoreceptor inner segment showed intense taurine immunoreactivity at 15 and 60 min after retinal detachment. Taurine immunoreactivity in photoreceptor inner segments may be a postmortem change induced by strong ischemia. Perfusion fixation is of critical importance when studying the immunocytochemical distribution of amino acids including taurine in the retina. This study of retinal detachment will help further understanding or retinal ischemia because taurine immunoreactivity can be considered a parameter of the degree of the retinal anoxic condition, including retinal detachment.