Abstract
AbstractPurposeTo analyse the neuroprotective effects of oral taurine administration in Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats.MethodsPigmented RCS rats (at postnatal day 21: P21) were administered taurine in drinking water (0.2 M) during 24 days. A group of untreated RCS rats were used as controls. Full field electroretinograms (ERG) in scotopic and photopic conditions, were performed at baseline (P21) and at the end of the study (P45). At this time, the retinas were cross‐sectioned, immunoreacted with antibodies against Iba1, GFAP and S and L/M opsins, and counterstained with DAPI. The number of nuclei rows in the outer nuclear layer (ONL) and of microglial cells in each retinal layer was quantified in 24 standard areas (8 per section in 3 sections per animal at 20x).ResultsOral taurine supplementation significantly increased photoreceptor survival, decreased the number of microglial cells in all retinal layers and decreased GFAP immunoreactivity in macroglial cells. Cone and rod ERG responses were also significantly improved in taurine treated animals.ConclusionsOral taurine supplementation increases the survival of functional photoreceptors and decreases micro‐ and macroglial activation in RCS rats.
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