Abstract
Taurine is one of the most abundant free amino acids especially in excitable tissues, with wide physiological actions. We have previously reported that chronic supplementation of taurine in drinking water to mice increases brain excitability, mainly through alterations in the inhibitory GABAergic system. In this study we investigated the effects of chronic versus acute taurine treatment on anxiety-like and locomotor behaviors using two behavioral tests: elevated plus-maze and open-field. These two test conditions generated different levels of anxiety, and both anxiolytic and anxiogenic effects of taurine could be assessed. We used two paradigms for taurine treatment: Acute injection versus chronic supplementation. In the open field test, taurine supplementation increased whereas taurine injection suppressed locomotor activity. We found that taurine supplementation induced an increase in the total distance traveled, the overall movement speed, the time the animals spent mobile, the number of line crossings, and the time the animals entered the center zone. In the elevated arm maze, taurine injection suppressed anxiety whereas taurine supplementation was anxiogenic. The major findings of this are two folds: First these results suggest that taurine might play a role in the modulation of anxiety and locomotor activity. Second, taurine when injected acutely had opposite effects than when administered chronically.
Access provided by Autonomous University of Puebla. Download to read the full chapter text
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
References
Barbeau A, Inoue N, Tsukada Y, Butterworth RF (1975) The neuropharmacology of taurine. Life Sci 17:669–678
Belzung C, Griebel G (2001) Measuring normal and pathological anxiety-like behaviour in mice:a review. Behav Brain Res 125:141–149
Benrabh H, Bourre JM, Lefauconnier JM (1995) Taurine transport at the blood-brain barrier: an in vivo brain perfusion study. Brain Res 692:57–65
Bourin M, Hascoet M (2003) The mouse light/dark box test. Eur J Pharmacol 463:55–65
Bueno CH, Zangrossi Jr. H, Viana MB (2005) The inactivation of the basolateral nucleus of the rat amygdala has an anxiolytic effect in the elevated T-maze and light/dark transition tests. Braz J Med Biol Res 38:1697–1701
Chen SW, Xin Q, Kong WX, Min L, Li JF (2003) Anxiolytic-like effect of succinic acid in mice. Life Sci 73:3257–3264
El Idrissi A, Trenkner E (2004) Taurine as a modulator of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission. Neurochem Res 29:189-197
Danober L, Pape HC (1998) Strychnine-sensitive glycine responses in neurons of the lateral amygdala: an electrophysiological and immunocytochemical characterization. Neuroscience 85:427–441
Dawson and Tricklebank MD (1995) Use of the elevated plus-maze in the search for novel anxiolytic agents. Trends in Pharm Sci 16:33–36
Guidotti A, Badiani G, Pepeu G (1972) Taurine distribution in cat brain. J Neurochem 19:431–435
Hayes KC, Carey SY, Schmidt SY (1975) Retinal degeneration associated with taurine deficiency in the cat. Science 188:949
Ikeda HC (1977) Effects of taurine on alcohol withdrawal. Lancet 2 (8036):509
Joseph and Emson (1976) Taurine and cobalt induced epilepsy in the rat: a biochemical and electrocorticographic study. J Neurochem 27:1495–1501
Kulkarni and Reddy DS (1996) Animal behavioral models for testing antianxiety agents. Methods and Findings in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology 18:219–230
McCool BA, Botting SK (2000) Characterization of strychnine-sensitive glycine receptors in acutely isolated adult rat basolateral amygdala neurons. Brain Res 859:341–351
Medina JH, DeRobertis E (1984) Taurine modulation of the benzodiazepine gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor complex in brain membranes. J Neurochem 42:1212–1217
Perry TL (1976) Hereditary mental depression with taurine deficiency: futher studies, including a therapeutic trial of taurine administration. In: Huxtable R, Barbeau A (eds) Taurine, Raven Press, New York, pp 365–374
Ramos A, Mormede P (1998) Stress and emotionality: a multidimensional and genetic approach. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 22:33–57
Rex A, Morgenstern E, Fink H (2002) Anxiolytic-like effects of Kava-Kava in the elevated plus maze test – a comparison with diazepam. Prog Neuro-Psychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 26:855–860
Rickels K, Schweizer E (1997) The clinical presentation of generalized anxiety in primary-care setting: practical concepts of classification and management. J Clin Psychiatry 58:4–9
Rodgers RJ, Dalvi A (1997) Anxiety, defence and the elevated plus-maze. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 21:801–810
Sanberg RP, Ossenkopp KP (1977) Dose-response effects of taurine on some open-field behaviors in the rat. Psychopharmacology 53:207–209
Sanders SK, Shekhar A (1995) Regulation of anxiety by GABAA receptors in the rat amygdale. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 52:701–706
Shaw RK, Heine JD (1965) Ninhydrin positive substances present in different areas of normal rat brain. J Neurochem 12:151–155
Wall PM, Messier C (2001) Methodological and conceptual issues in the use of the elevated plus-maze as a psychological measurement instrument of animal anxiety-like behavior. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 25:275–286
Zangrossi H, Graeff FG (1994) Behavioral effects of intra-amygdala injections of GABA and 5-HT acting drugs in the elevated plus-maze. Braz J Med Biol Res 27:2453–2456
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this paper
Cite this paper
Idrissi, A.E., Boukarrou, L., Heany, W., Malliaros, G., Sangdee, C., Neuwirth, L. (2009). Effects of Taurine on Anxiety-Like and Locomotor Behavior of Mice. In: Azuma, J., Schaffer, S.W., Ito, T. (eds) Taurine 7. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 643. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-75681-3_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-75681-3_21
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-75680-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-75681-3
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)