Thurston J H, Hauhart R E, Naccarato E F
Science. 1981 Dec 18;214(4527):1373-4. doi: 10.1126/science.7313699.
It is well established that taurine plays an important role in the maintenance of intracellular osmolal concentration in marine invertebrates, teleosts, and amphibians. In fresh water, concentrations of taurine in body tissues decrease; in salt water, they increase. In this study with mice we found that during adaptation of these mammals to chronic hypernatremia, the taurine content of the heart increased; concentrations of other amino acids were unchanged or were decreased. Welty and his associated have shown that acute hyponatremia lowered the taurine concentration of rat heart. In concert, these data suggest that taurine also may serve as an osmotic agent in mammalian heart.
众所周知，牛磺酸在维持海洋无脊椎动物、硬骨鱼和两栖动物的细胞内渗透压浓度方面发挥着重要作用。在淡水中，身体组织中的牛磺酸浓度会降低；在盐水中，其浓度会升高。在这项对小鼠的研究中，我们发现，在这些哺乳动物适应慢性高钠血症的过程中，心脏中的牛磺酸含量增加；其他氨基酸的浓度未发生变化或有所降低。韦尔蒂及其同事已表明，急性低钠血症会降低大鼠心脏中的牛磺酸浓度。综合这些数据表明，牛磺酸在哺乳动物心脏中也可能作为一种渗透剂。
