Taurine attenuates hippocampal and corpus callosum damage, and enhances neurological recovery after closed head injury in rats

Y Gu; Y Zhao; K Qian; M Sun

doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.09.073

Taurine attenuates hippocampal and corpus callosum damage, and enhances neurological recovery after closed head injury in rats

Neuroscience. 2015 Apr 16:291:331-40. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.09.073. Epub 2014 Oct 5.

Authors

Y Gu¹, Y Zhao¹, K Qian², M Sun³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuropharmacology, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing Key Laboratory of Central Nervous System Injury, China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, No. 6 Tiantan Xili, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100050, China.
² Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Key Laboratory of Central Nervous System Injury, China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, No. 6 Tiantan Xili, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100050, China.
³ Department of Neuropharmacology, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing Key Laboratory of Central Nervous System Injury, China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, No. 6 Tiantan Xili, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100050, China. Electronic address: sunming999@yahoo.com.

PMID: 25290011
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.09.073

Abstract

The protective effects of taurine against closed head injury (CHI) have been reported. This study was designed to investigate whether taurine reduced white matter damage and hippocampal neuronal death through suppressing calpain activation after CHI in rats. Taurine (50 mg/kg) was administered intravenously 30 min and 4 h again after CHI. It was found that taurine lessened the corpus callosum damage, attenuated the neuronal cell death in hippocampal CA1 and CA3 subfields and improved the neurological functions 7 days after CHI. Moreover, it suppressed the over-activation of calpain, enhanced the levels of calpastatin, and reduced the degradation of neurofilament heavy protein, myelin basic protein and αII-spectrin in traumatic tissue 24 h after CHI. These data confirm the protective effects of taurine against gray and white matter damage due to CHI, and suggest that down-regulating calpain activation could be one of the protective mechanisms of taurine against CHI.

Keywords: calpain; closed head injury; corpus callosum; hippocampus; taurine.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
CA1 Region, Hippocampal / drug effects*
CA1 Region, Hippocampal / metabolism
CA1 Region, Hippocampal / pathology
CA3 Region, Hippocampal / drug effects*
CA3 Region, Hippocampal / metabolism
CA3 Region, Hippocampal / pathology
Calcium-Binding Proteins / metabolism
Calpain / metabolism
Cell Death / drug effects
Corpus Callosum / drug effects*
Corpus Callosum / metabolism
Corpus Callosum / pathology
Disease Models, Animal
Gray Matter / drug effects
Gray Matter / metabolism
Gray Matter / pathology
Head Injuries, Closed / drug therapy*
Head Injuries, Closed / metabolism
Head Injuries, Closed / pathology
Male
Myelin Basic Protein / metabolism
Neurofilament Proteins / metabolism
Neurons / drug effects
Neurons / metabolism
Neurons / pathology
Neuroprotective Agents / pharmacology*
Random Allocation
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Taurine / pharmacology*
White Matter / drug effects
White Matter / metabolism
White Matter / pathology

Substances

Calcium-Binding Proteins
Myelin Basic Protein
Neurofilament Proteins
Neuroprotective Agents
neurofilament protein H
Taurine
calpastatin
Calpain