title: [Effects of taurine on rabbit cardiomyocyte apoptosis during ischemia/reperfusion injury].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the effect of taurine (Tau) on rabbit cardiomyocyte apoptosis during ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rabbit heart I/R injury was induced by occluding the left anterior descending coronary artery for 45 min and reperfusion for 180 min. taurine (200 mg/kg) was intravenously injected 5 min before heart ischemia. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis was measured by using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase--mediated dUTP nick end labeling method (TUNEL), flow cytometry (FCM) and DNA agarose gel electrophoresis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DNA ladder pattern of DNA in myocardium was revealed by agarose gel electrophoresis in I/R group while was not found in Tau + I/R group. Apoptotic cardiomyocytes were sparse within ischemic myocardium at risk in Tau + I/ R group as compared with that in I/R group (TUNEL stain). Apoptosis rate in ischemic myocardium from I/R and Tau + I/R groups detected by flow cytometry was 17.66% +/- 1.54% and 4.86% +/- 1.23%, respectively. Fas and Bax protein expressions in ischemic myocardium of I/R group were higher than that in nonischemic myocardium group (P < 0.01), Bcl-2/Bax ratio in I/R group was lower than that in nonischemic myocardium (P < 0.01); while in Tau + I/R group, Fas and Bax protein expressions were lower than that in I/R group (P < 0.01), the Bcl-2/Bax ratio was higher than that in I/R group (P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Taurine reduced apoptosis of myocytes in I/R rabbit heart; its mechanism may involve Fas, Bax and Bcl-2 proteins expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050091, China.
authors.forename: Ai-ying
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: En-sheng
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Shu-ming
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Zhi-Hong
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D011817:Rabbits; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D013654:Taurine / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D013654:Taurine