Infusion Of Taurine Research Articles

Central effect of taurine and its analogues on fever caused by intravenous leukocytic pyrogen in the rabbit.

1. Taurine infused I.C.V. after I.V. injection of leukocytic pyrogen (LP) inhibited the initial rise in body temperature and prolonged fever when infusion was stopped. 2. Similar infusion of taurine also inhibited the hypertermic effect of I.C.V. PGE2 (0.5 microgram) but did not cause prolonged hyperthermia. 3. I.C.V. administration of the taurine analogues hypotaurine and beta-alanine, compounds which have been shown previously to compete with taurine for facilitated transport in C.N.S. tissue, also inhibited the initial increase in body temperature and prolonged LP fever. 4. These results suggest that taurine prolongs LP fever by preferentially occupying a carrier system normally required for termination of the effects of endogenous pyrogens or related central mediators of fever. There was no evidence that taurine prolongs fever by blocking inactivation of central PGE2, a substance proposed previously to be a central mediator of fever.

Intracerebroventricular taurine in rabbits: effects of normal body temperature, endotoxin fever and hyperthermia produced by PGE1 and amphetamine.

1. Intracerebroventricular (I.C.V.) injections of taurine into rabbits resting at an ambient temperature (Ta) of 10 degrees or 23 degrees C caused hypothermia but at 30 degrees C ambient temperature, rectal temperature was unchanged. 2. An I.C.V. bolus of 0=5 mg taurine immediately followed by a slow infusion of taurine (0-01--0-2 mg/min) into rabbits at 23 degrees C ambient temperature caused sedation and peripheral vasodilation and blocked the febrile response to Salmonella typhosa endotoxin (1 microng/kg i.v.). Sustained fevers, characteristic of fevers caused by central administration of pyrogens, developed after taurine infusions were stopped. Control infusions of taurine at the same rates in the same rabbits when they were afebrile had little effect on rectal temperature. 3. An I.C.V. injection of 0-5 mg taurine reduced the hyperthermia caused by prostaglandin E1 (PGE1; 2 microng) given I.C.V. A dose of 5-0 mg not only blocked PGE1 hyperthermia but also caused marked hypothermia. 4. Bilateral injections of taurine into the preoptic/anterior hypothalamic region, at sites where injections of Salmonella typhosa endotoxin caused long-lasting fevers, had no effect on rectal temperature. Similar injections into the reticular substance of the medulla oblongata, in the region believed to be concerned with a secondary temperature control function, were also without effect on body temperature. 5. Taurine (0-5 and 5-0 mg, I.C.V.) had no consistent effect on hyperthermia induced by amphetamine (2 mg/kg, I.V.) 6. We conclude that the hypothermic effect of taurine is not due to an action on the central neurone pool or pools concerned with the integrative control of thermoregulatory effectors. This amino acid appears to inhibit neuronal activity in efferent pathways which control peripheral vasomotor tone and heat production and to depress the level of arousal. Taurine delays the onset and extends the duration of endotoxin-induced fever, perhaps by two separate action: by inhibiting activity in central thermoregulatory pathways and by promoting accumulation of endogenous pyrogen in the brain.

Influence of hepatic taurine concentration on bile acid conjugation with taurine.

In vitro, addition of taurine to liver homogenates increases the proportion of cholic acid conjugated with taurine. In the present study, the relation between hepatic taurine concentration and the proportion of infused sodium cholate conjugated with taurine was studied in the whole organ. The isolated perfused liver was studied to eliminate possible transfer of taurine to or from the large extrahepatic poosl present in vivo. During cholate infusion, the proportion of taurocholate excreted in bile decreased, and the proportion of glycocholate increased in a complementary fashion. Infusion of taurine with cholate prevented these changes. Hepatic taurine concentration, calculated from measured hepatic taurine concentrations before and at the end of cholate infusion, fell. Fall in proportion of total bile acid excreted as taurocholate was most rapid at low hepatic taurine concentrations between about 1.4 and 0.65 mumol/g liver. Hepatic taurine concentrations is a major determinant of the proportion of bile acid conjugated with taurine.