Olive M F
Department of Neurology, University of California at San Francisco, Emeryville, California, USA.
Amino Acids. 2002;23(4):345-57. doi: 10.1007/s00726-002-0203-1.
This purpose of this review will be to summarize the interactions between the endogenous amino acid taurine and ethyl alcohol (ethanol) in the central nervous system (CNS). Taurine is one of the most abundant amino acids in the CNS and plays an integral role in physiological processes such as osmoregulation, neuroprotection and neuromodulation. Both taurine and ethanol exert positive allosteric modulatory effects on neuronal ligand-gated chloride channels (i.e., GABA(A) and glycine receptors) as well as inhibitory effects on other ligand- and voltage-gated cation channels (i.e., NMDA and Ca(2+) channels). Behavioral evidence suggests that taurine can alter the locomotor stimulatory, sedating, and motivational effects of ethanol in a strongly dose-dependent manner. Microdialysis studies have revealed that ethanol elevates extracellular levels of taurine in numerous brain regions, although the functional consequences of this phenomenon are currently unknown. Finally, taurine and several related molecules including the homotaurine derivative acamprosate (calcium acetylhomotaurinate) can reduce ethanol self-administration and relapse to drinking in both animals and humans. Taken together, these data suggest that the endogenous taurine system may be an important modulator of effects of ethanol on the nervous system, and may represent a novel therapeutic avenue for the development of medications to treat alcohol abuse and alcoholism.
本综述的目的是总结内源性氨基酸牛磺酸与乙醇在中枢神经系统（CNS）中的相互作用。牛磺酸是中枢神经系统中含量最丰富的氨基酸之一，在渗透调节、神经保护和神经调节等生理过程中发挥着不可或缺的作用。牛磺酸和乙醇对神经元配体门控氯离子通道（即GABA(A)和甘氨酸受体）均具有正性变构调节作用，对其他配体门控和电压门控阳离子通道（即NMDA和Ca(2+)通道）均具有抑制作用。行为学证据表明，牛磺酸能够以强烈的剂量依赖性方式改变乙醇的运动刺激、镇静和动机效应。微透析研究显示，乙醇可提高多个脑区的细胞外牛磺酸水平，尽管目前尚不清楚这一现象的功能后果。最后，牛磺酸和几种相关分子，包括高牛磺酸衍生物阿坎酸（乙酰高牛磺酸钙），均可减少动物和人类的乙醇自我给药及复饮。综上所述，这些数据表明内源性牛磺酸系统可能是乙醇对神经系统作用的重要调节因子，可能代表了开发治疗酒精滥用和酒精中毒药物的新治疗途径。
