Authors: Tatsuro Murakami Mitsuhiro Furuse
Publish Date: 2010/01/23
Volume: 39, Issue: 2, Pages: 427-434
Abstract
Taurine a substrate of taurine transporter has functions as a neuromodulator and antioxidant and betaalanine a taurine transporter inhibitor has a role as a neurotransmitter in the brain and they were expected to be involved in depressionlike behavior and antidepressant treatment These facts aroused our interest in new capabilities of taurine and betaalanine Thus to investigate the effects of chronic ingestion of taurine 225 mmol/kg diet supplemented diet and betaalanine 225 mmol/kg diet supplemented diet under acute stressful conditions behavioral changes and brain metabolites were compared with mice fed a control diet In the open field test no significant difference was observed in locomotor activity among groups In the elevated plusmaze test however significant increases in the percentage of time spent and entries in the open arms were observed in the betaalaninesupplemented diet fed group compared to both controls and animals fed with taurinesupplemented diet Moreover a significant decrease in the duration of immobility was observed in the taurinesupplemented diet group in the forced swimming test compared to both controls and animals fed with betaalaninesupplemented diet Taurinesupplemented diet increased taurine and larginine concentrations in the hypothalamus In contrast betaalaninesupplemented diet decreased the concentration of 5hydroxyindoleacetic acid a major metabolite of serotonin in the hypothalamus Betaalaninesupplemented diet also increased carnosine betaalanyllhistidine concentration in the cerebral cortex and hypothalamus and brainderived neurotrophic factor concentration in the hippocampus These results suggested that taurinesupplemented diet had an antidepressantlike effect and betaalaninesupplemented diet had an anxiolyticlike effectThis study was supported in part by a GrantinAid for Scientific Research from the Japanese Society of Pet Animal Nutrition and MEXT City Area Program Development Stage The authors are grateful to Dr M A Cline Radford University USA for his reading of the manuscript and the staff and students of the Laboratory of Chemistry and Technology of Animal Products in Kyushu University for their assistance in the amino acid analysis
Keywords: