Abstract
Perinatal taurine depletion leads to several physiological impairments in adult life, in part, due to taurine’s effects on the renin-angiotensin system, a crucial regulator of growth and differentiation during early life. The present study tests the hypothesis that perinatal taurine depletion predisposes adult female rats to impaired baroreceptor control of arterial pressure by altering the renin-angiotensin system. Female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were fed normal rat chow and from conception to weaning drank 3% beta-alanine in water (taurine depletion, TD) or water alone (Control, C). Female offspring ate a normal rat chow and drank water with (G) or without (W) 5% glucose throughout the experiment. To test the possible role of the renin-angiotensin system, 50% of the rats received captopril (an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, 400 mg/L) from 7 days before parameter measurements until the end of experiment. At 7-8 weeks of age, arterial pressure, heart rate, baroreflex control of heart rate and renal nerve activity were studied in either conscious, freely moving or anesthetized rats. Perinatal taurine depletion did not alter resting mean arterial pressure or heart rate in the adult female offspring that received either high or normal sugar intake. Captopril treatment slightly decreased mean arterial pressure but not heart rate in all groups. Compared to controls, only the TDG rats displayed blunted baroreflex responses. Captopril treatment normalized baroreflex sensitivity in TDG. The present data indicate that in perinatal taurine depleted female rats, the renin-angiotensin system underlines the ability of high sugar intake to blunt baroreceptor responses.
Highlights
Taurine is present at a high concentration in many organs including brain, heart, kidneys, and reproductive organs
Mean arterial pressures were not significantly different among the groups, and they were significantly decreased by captopril treatment in all groups except TDG (Fig. 1)
In the TD groups, heart rate baroreflex was significantly impaired by glucose treatment, but this was returned to control levels by captopril treatment (Fig. 3)
Summary
Taurine is present at a high concentration in many organs including brain, heart, kidneys, and reproductive organs. Taurine content in these organs is highest during the perinatal period, and it modestly declines with advancing age [1]. Poor nutrition in early life can lead to obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and coronary heart diseases in adults [3], and via epigenetic mechanisms, these can Taurine supplementation either during perinatal period or during young adult life prevents hypertension in adult spontaneously hypertensive rats, partly by its antioxidant action [8]. Perinatal taurine depletion heightens sugarinduced hypertension in the adult male offspring [10], and this effect impairs renal function prior to the appearance of hypertension and diabetes mellitus [9,14].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
