title: Effects of chronic taurine treatment on reactivity of the rat aorta.
abstract: The effects of chronic taurine treatment on the reactivity of the aorta form male Wistar-Kyoto rats were investigated. Contractile responses to norepinephrine (NE) and potassium chloride (KCl) were attenuated in aortic rings from taurine-treated rats as compared to controls both in the absence and presence of endothelium. However, the degree of attenuation was greater in endothelium-intact tissues contracted with NE. Acetylcholine (Ach)-induced relaxation responses were augmented in endothelium-intact vessels from rats supplemented with taurine compared to the responses observed in control preparations. Relaxation responses of the aortae from control and taurine-treated rats to sodium nitroprusside (SNP) were not different from each other. Our results suggest that taurine treatment attenuates vascular contractility nonspecifically and this effect is partly mediated via the endothelium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Biology and Maxillofacial Pathology School of Dentistry, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta 30912-1128, USA. wabebe@mail.mcg.edu
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Abebe
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mozaffari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects*; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000494:pharmacology; D011189:Potassium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D011921:Rats, Inbred WKY; D013654:Taurine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents; D013654:Taurine; D011189:Potassium Chloride; D009638:Norepinephrine