Effects of taurine, glycine and GABA on convulsions produced by strychnine in the rabbit.

The action of intravenously injected taurine, glycine and GABA has been tested on convulsions induced by strychnine using electroencephalographic and electromyographic recordings. The dose of strychnine necessary to produce a generalized tonic-clonic seizure was 0.55 +/- 0.15 mg/kg intravenously for rabbits pretreated with taurine, which was significantly higher than for control animals (0.38 +/- 0.13 mg/kg). After pretreatment with glycine, the strychnine dose required to evoke convulsions (0.51 +/- 0.22 mg/kg) was also higher than the control values, but the difference was statistically not significant. The convulsive dose of strychnine in animals pretreated with GABA was slightly but not significantly lower than in control animals (0.31 +/- 0.13 mg/kg). These results suggest that taurine is the most effective amino acid to protect rabbits from seizures induced by strychnine.