Depletion of taurine in the adult rat retina.
Taurine is the major free amino acid of the vertebrate retina. Treatment of rats with guanidinoethyl sulfonate (GES), a taurine analogue which competes with taurine for transport sites, leads to depletion of 60% of retinal taurine with little effect on other free amino acids. Supplementation of the diet with 0.3% taurine gives partial protection against depletion, confirming that taurine-GES competition underlies part of the effects. The magnitude of the depletion suggests the importance of taurine transport across the blood-retinal barrier for the maintenance of retinal taurine levels.
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012160:Retina / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D013654:Taurine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism
D000596:Amino Acids; D013654:Taurine; C009558:taurocyamine; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid