Posted by Elroy on April 9, 2005, at 21:56:05
In reply to RE: PEA » Elroy, posted by Larry Hoover on April 9, 2005, at 15:35:43
Some excellent info there.
Can easily see where Taurine would help with anxiety. Wonder how it would work with peripheral neuropathy type pains like Neurontin does?
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> True. Enhancing GABA-ergic function is one of the Holy Grails of pharmaceutical research. However, there is an option. Taurine.
>
> It's already (supposed to be) the most abundant free amino acid in your body, but its synthesis requires pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (P5P), the activated form of B6. Some people have trouble converting B6 to P5P, and some people are just short on B6 altogether. In any case, taking taurine isn't going to hurt you.
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> Contrary to my earlier assertions that GABA and taurine are virtually identical in structure, save for the acid moiety, I find I have made a mistake.
>
> Taurine is NH2-CH2-CH2-SO3H
>
> GABA is NH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CO2H
>
> Still, they act very much alike, in the brain. Except taurine does a hell of a lot more.
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> http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/fulltext/taurine3-2.html
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> Now, this review article doesn't reflect more recent research which shows a neuromodulatory effect from taurine.
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> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11140356
>
> From a fairly quick review of Pubmed, I've determined that taurine:
> a) acts as an agonist at glycine and GABA(A) receptors;
> b) induces hippocampal synaptic plasticity and long-term potentiation;
> c) is synthesized by dedicated glial and Perkinje cells in specific brain structures, and is released directly into synapses;
> d) is taken into neurons by not one by two dedicated taurine transporters;
> e) is actively tranpsorted across the blood/brain barrier by dedicatied transporters;
> f) can totally inhibit glutamate-induced calcium efflux (effectively cancelling the glutamate excitatory signal);
> g) upregulates the gene responsible for GABA synthesis;
> h) induces long-term potentiation in cortical tissue via activation of GABA(A) and glycine RS receptors.
>
> Taurine does a whole whack of things. They think there might be a taurine receptor (dedicated signal transduction) buried somewhere in all of this. They don't really know what it does, but it's everywhere. It's neuroprotective against oxidative stress. It promotes growth of new brain connections, and strengthens existing ones. It's neuromodulatory, reducing all known excitatory signals.
>
> I wonder what it really does. <Spock eyebrow>
>
> Lar
poster:Elroy
thread:452259
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050323/msgs/482192.html