Pathologies of the CNS and Associated Taurine Changes

Investigations into the action(s) of taurine over the past 20 years, have hinted at an important role of this amino acid in maintaining normal CNS function. Thus, changes of taurine content have been observed in association with certain forms of epilepsy (van Gelder et al., 1972), retinal blindness (Hayes et al., 1975a), abnormal neural (sensory) development (Sturman, 1990) and cardiac myopathies (Huxtable, 1989). These findings seem to suggest that taurine is needed in developing, as well as adult, tissues which cells are characterized by their ability to undergo rapid voltage discharges. What precisely, however, that function may be is not easy to uncover.