Liaoning Provincial Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, College of Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110866, P.R. China.
Sci Rep. 2017 Jul 10;7(1):4989. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-05051-3.
Depression, a psychiatric and dysthymic disorder, severely affects the learning, work and life quality. The main pathogenesis of depression is associated with central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction. Taurine has been demonstrated to exert protective effects on the brain development and can improve learning ability and memory. Our study investigated the antidepressant-like effects of taurine pre-treatment by examining the changes in depression-like behavior, hormones, neurotransmitters, inflammatory factors and neurotrophic factors in the hippocampus of a chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced depressive rat model. Taurine was found to inhibit the decrease of sucrose consumption and prevent the deficiency of spatial memory and anxiety in rats exposed to CUMS, suggesting a preventive effect of taurine on depression-like behavior. Furthermore, the decreased levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine, dopamine, noradrenaline; the increased levels of glutamate, corticosterone; and the decreased expressions of fibroblast growth factor-2, vascular endothelial growth factor and brain derived neurotrophic factor in depressive rats were hindered by taurine pre-administration. However, tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β levels were not significantly changed by taurine. The results demonstrated that the anti-depressive effect of taurine may be involved in the regulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the promotion of neurogenesis, neuronal survival and growth in the hippocampus.
抑郁症是一种精神和心境障碍，严重影响学习、工作和生活质量。抑郁症的主要发病机制与中枢神经系统（CNS）功能障碍有关。牛磺酸已被证明对大脑发育具有保护作用，可以提高学习能力和记忆力。我们的研究通过观察慢性不可预测轻度应激（CUMS）诱导的抑郁大鼠模型中海马区抑郁样行为、激素、神经递质、炎性因子和神经营养因子的变化，研究了牛磺酸预处理的抗抑郁样作用。牛磺酸可抑制蔗糖消耗减少，防止 CUMS 暴露大鼠空间记忆和焦虑缺陷，表明牛磺酸对抑郁样行为具有预防作用。此外，牛磺酸预处理可阻止抑郁大鼠 5-羟色胺、多巴胺、去甲肾上腺素水平降低，谷氨酸、皮质酮水平升高，以及成纤维细胞生长因子-2、血管内皮生长因子和脑源性神经营养因子表达降低。然而，牛磺酸对肿瘤坏死因子-α和白细胞介素-1β水平没有显著影响。结果表明，牛磺酸的抗抑郁作用可能涉及调节下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴，并促进海马神经发生、神经元存活和生长。
