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Prophylaxis by taurine in the hearts of cardiomyopathic hamsters

1980; Elsevier BV; Volume: 12; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0022-2828(80)90121-2

1095-8584

J Azari,

Pregnancy-related medical research

Cardiomyopathic Syrian hamsters develop necrotic lesions consequent to calcium overload when 60 days old onwards. Taurine, given as 0.1 m solution in place of drinking water for one month prior to killing to animals of initial age 35 days, decreased the severity of subsequently developing cardiac lesions by 40%. Calcium concentration in the heart was decreased by 57%. Magnesium and iron concentrations were unaltered. Taurine given in a similar manner for 4 months still had a protective effect, decreasing lesion severity by 21% and calcium concentration by 35%. Magnesium concentrations were increased by 12%. Compared to random-bred animals, cardiomyopathic hamsters at 1 and 2 months of age have the same concentrations of calcium, magnesium and iron in the quadrants of the heart, except in the left ventricle, which has significantly higher concentration of calcium. Calcium concentrations are 70, 1320 and 2100% higher respectively in 1-month, 2-month and 5-month-old animals. Five-month-old animals differ slightly but significantly in iron (17% decrease) and magnesium concentrations (17% increase). Cardiomyopathic hamsters have insignificant differences in β-adrenergic receptor density compared to random-bred animals and have a significantly higher rate of taurine influx.