Distribution of taurine-like immunoreactivity in cerebellum of kittens from taurine-supplemented and taurine-deficient mothers

Abstract

Using an antibody prepared against taurine conjugated to bovine serum albumin with glutaraldehyde, the distribution of taurine in cerebellum of newborn and 8-week-old kittens from mothers fed 0, 0.02, 0.05, or 1% dietary taurine has been determined. In general, taurine-like immunoreactivity was greater in kittens from mothers fed the greatest amounts of taurine, as was the total cerebellar taurine concentration. The most notable feature in newborn kitten cerebellum was a dense band of staining in the inner molecular layer adjacent to the Purkinje cell layer, which corresponds to the short Purkinje cell dendrites. In cerebellum of 8-week-old kittens, taurine-like immunoreactivity was present in Purkinje cells and their dendrites, most granule cells, and a few interneurons in the molecular layer of the 0.02, 0.05, and 1% groups. The cerebellum of the 0% group was distinctive in that virtually no neurons were reactive, appearing as ‘ghosts’ against the background, and both white matter and the granule cell layer contained large numbers of reactive astrocytes. The presence of such large numbers of reactive astrocytes and the immunoglobulin within the brain suggests an impairment of the blood-brain barrier in such taurine-deficient kittens.