title: Role of taurine in furazolidone-induced cardiomyopathy.
abstract: 1. Taurine levels were determined in the heart, and red and white muscle of turkey poults fed furazolidone (FZ) at a dose of 700 ppm from 2 to 5 weeks of age and/or 0.1 M taurine from 1 to 5 weeks of age. 2. In FZ-fed poults, taurine levels in the myocardium decreased significantly (P less than 0.001), but not in brain or muscle indicating a specific effect of FZ on the heart. 3. Exogenous administration of taurine significantly (P less than 0.001) increased taurine content of brain and muscle in all poults. 4. Myocardial taurine levels were significantly elevated (P less than 0.01) in poults fed a normal ration, but not in those fed FZ. 5. Although taurine treatment restored myocardial taurine to normal levels in the FZ-fed poults, the treatment did not decrease the incidence of FZ-induced cardioyopathy. 6. Since taurine is a membrane stabilizer and protects against calcium overload, our data suggests that sarcolemmal damage leading to tissue calcium overload is not the mechanism of the furazolidone-mediated syndrome.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000139:chemically induced*; D004326:Drinking / Q000187:drug effects; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005664:Furazolidone; D013654:Taurine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014422:Turkeys
chemical_list: D013654:Taurine; D005664:Furazolidone