Taurine distribution in rat tissues during development
Macaione, S.; Tucci, G.; Di Giorgio, R.M.
Italian Journal of Biochemistry 24(2): 162-174
1975
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-2938 PMID: 1158652 Document Number: 89533
Wistar rats of both sexes were fed freely on commercial diet. Litters were reduced to 6 at parturition and the constant litter size was maintained until weaning. The young rats were killed and the brain cortex, liver, heart, spleen, lung and kidney were removed. The small intestine was homogenised. The eyes were enucleated immediately the rats were killed; the retina was separated from the underlying choroid. Taurine was estimated in the tissue homogenates and subcellular fractions. In retina, heart, small intestine, spleen and lung the taurine content appeared to increase with age. Taurine content of retina was rather low at birth but reached its adult value by age of 30 days; that of the heart, high in the first day, fell by day 5 and increased from day 15. Taurine concentration of the small intestine rose from birth to adult age of 90 days. For the spleen and lung taurine concentrations were higher than adult values at age of 25 days. The taurine content in brain cortex, liver and kidney fell with age. Taurine content in nuclear pellets, crude mitochondria and supernatant (at 20 000 gn) from the tissues showed that the amino acid was present mainly in the cytosol of the cell. With age taurine percentage distribution increased in nuclear pellets of the lung but fell in those of the liver, kidney, heart, brain and retina; it rose in crude mitochondria of the brain and retina. In adult retina and brain taurine content was higher in the nerve-ending fractions; a less differentiated distribution was found for fractions from crude mitochondria of retina from rats 5 days old. The findings showed that the quantitative changes in taurine values during postnatal growth were related to the functional development of tissue.