Abstract
Despite the intensive studies of many investigators the role of taurine in mammals, other than as a component of taurocholate, is still unknown (2,3,11). The difficulty in assigning a function to taurine results from the large number of organs, actions and conditions with which the compound has been associated, such as neurotransmission (18,29), epilepsy (46,47), development (6,42), nutrition (30), retinal function (23), feline blindness (10,36), mongolism (8), adrenal function (21), cardiac function (9) and others. In addition, specific pharmacologic agonists and antagonists have not been identified, and pathologic changes, other than feline blindness, have not been associated with taurine deficiency or excess. Thus, conclusions cannot be made as yet concerning the function of taurine, and discussions of the importance of this compound still depend upon extrapolation from the descriptive data that are currently available.
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Rassin, D.K. (1982). Taurine, Cysteinesulfinic Acid Decarboxylase and Glutamic Acid in Brain. In: Huxtable, R.J., Pasantes-Morales, H. (eds) Taurine in Nutrition and Neurology. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 139. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0402-0_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0402-0_17
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