Neonatal taurine and alanine modulate anxiety-like behavior and decelerate cortical spreading depression in rats previously suckled under different litter sizes

• Published in: Amino acids 2015-11, Vol.47 (11), p.2437-2445
• Main Authors: Francisco, Elian da Silva, Guedes, Rubem Carlos Araújo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adulthood; adults; Alanine; Alanine - pharmacology; Amino acids; Analytical Chemistry; Animals; Animals, Newborn; anxiety; Anxiety - metabolism; Behavior, Animal - drug effects; Biochemical Engineering; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; brain; Cortical Spreading Depression - drug effects; Deceleration; Depression; lactation; Life Sciences; Litter; Litter Size; Male; Neurobiology; Original Article; Proteomics; pups; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Spreading; taurine; Taurine - pharmacology
• ISSN: 0939-4451; 1438-2199
• DOI: 10.1007/s00726-015-2036-8

The amino acids taurine and alanine play a role in several physiological processes, including behavior and the electrical activity of the brain. In this study, we investigated the effect of treatment with taurine or alanine on anxiety-like behavior and the excitability-dependent phenomenon known as cortical spreading depression (CSD), using rats suckled in litters with 9 and 15 pups (groups L₉ and L₁₅). From postnatal days 7 to 27, the animals received per gavage 300 mg/kg/day of taurine or alanine or both. At 28 days, we tested the animals in the elevated plus maze, and at 33–35 days, we recorded CSD and analyzed its velocity of propagation, amplitude, and duration. Compared with water-treated controls, the L₉ groups treated with taurine or alanine displayed anxiolytic behavior (higher number of entries in the open arms; p