Skip to main content
Advertisement

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current Issue
    • Fast Forward
    • Latest Articles
    • Special Sections
    • Archive
  • Information
    • Instructions to Authors
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • FAQs
    • For Subscribers
    • Terms & Conditions of Use
    • Permissions
  • Editorial Board
  • Alerts
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
  • Virtual Issues
  • Feedback
  • Submit
  • Other Publications
    • Drug Metabolism and Disposition
    • Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
    • Molecular Pharmacology
    • Pharmacological Reviews
    • Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
    • ASPET

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
  • Other Publications
    • Drug Metabolism and Disposition
    • Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
    • Molecular Pharmacology
    • Pharmacological Reviews
    • Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
    • ASPET
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current Issue
    • Fast Forward
    • Latest Articles
    • Special Sections
    • Archive
  • Information
    • Instructions to Authors
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • FAQs
    • For Subscribers
    • Terms & Conditions of Use
    • Permissions
  • Editorial Board
  • Alerts
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
  • Virtual Issues
  • Feedback
  • Submit
  • Visit jpet on Facebook
  • Follow jpet on Twitter
  • Follow jpet on LinkedIn
Research ArticleArticle

Chronic Administration of Taurine to Aged Rats Improves the Electrical and Contractile Properties of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

Sabata Pierno, Annamaria De Luca, Claudia Camerino, Ryan J. Huxtable and Diana Conte Camerino
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics September 1998, 286 (3) 1183-1190;
Sabata Pierno
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Annamaria De Luca
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Claudia Camerino
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ryan J. Huxtable
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Diana Conte Camerino
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

A reduction of resting chloride conductance (GCl) and a decrease of the voltage threshold for contraction are observed during aging in rat skeletal muscle. The above alterations are also observed in muscle of adult rat after taurine depletion. As lower levels of taurine were found by others in aged rats compared to young rats, we tested the hypothesis that a depletion of taurine may contribute to the alteration of the electrical and contractile properties we found in skeletal muscle during aging. This was accomplished by evaluating the potential benefit of a pharmacological treatment with the amino acid. To this aim 25-mo-old Wistar rats were chronically treated (2–3 mo) with taurine (1 g/kg p.o. daily) and the effects of such a treatment were evaluatedin vitro on the passive and active membrane electrical properties of extensor digitorum longus muscle fibers by means of current-clamp intracellular microelectrode technique. Excitation-contraction coupling was also evaluated by measuring the voltage threshold for contraction with the intracellular microelectrode “point” voltage clamp method. In parallel muscle and blood taurine contents were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Taurine supplementation significantly raised taurine content in muscle toward that found in adult rats. Supplementation also significantly increased GCl vs. the adult value, in parallel the excitability characteristics (threshold current and latency) related to this parameter were ameliorated. The increase of GCl induced by taurine was accompanied by a restoration of the pharmacological sensitivity to the R(+) enantiomer of 2-(p-chlorophenoxy) propionic acid, a specific chloride channel ligand. In parallel also the protein kinase C-mediated modulation of the channel was restored; in fact the potency of 4-β-phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate in reducing GCl was lower in taurine-treated muscles vs. untreated aged, being rather similar to that observed in adult. The treatment also improved the mechanical threshold for contraction of striated fibers which in aged rats is shifted toward more negative potentials, moving it toward the adult values. Our results suggest that the reduction of taurine content could play a role in the alteration of electrical and contractile properties observed during aging. These findings may indicate a potential application of taurine in ensuring normal muscle function in the elderly.

Footnotes

  • Send reprint requests to: Prof. Diana Conte Camerino, Unità di Farmacologia, Dipartimento Farmacobiologico, Facoltà di Farmacia, Università di Bari, Via Orabona, 4, Campus, 70125 Bari, Italy.

  • ↵1 This work has been supported by Grants CI1*-CT 94-0037 from the CEE. C.C. has been partially supported by Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. (RH).

  • Abbreviations:
    EDL
    extensor digitorum longus
    Rm
    membrane resistance
    Gm
    total membrane conductance
    GCl
    resting chloride conductance
    GK
    resting potassium conductance
    AP
    action potential amplitude
    Ith
    threshold current
    Lat
    latency of the action potential
    PKC
    protein kinase C
    4-β-PDB
    4-β-phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate
    GES
    guanidinoethane sulfonate
    CPP
    2-p-(chlorophenoxy) propionic acid
    DMSO
    dimethylsulfoxide
    HPLC
    high-performance liquid chromatography
    • Received June 16, 1998.
    • Accepted May 8, 1998.
  • The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
View Full Text

JPET articles become freely available 12 months after publication, and remain freely available for 5 years. 

Non-open access articles that fall outside this five year window are available only to institutional subscribers and current ASPET members, or through the article purchase feature at the bottom of the page. 

 

  • Click here for information on institutional subscriptions.
  • Click here for information on individual ASPET membership.

 

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Vol. 286, Issue 3
1 Sep 1998
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Chronic Administration of Taurine to Aged Rats Improves the Electrical and Contractile Properties of Skeletal Muscle Fibers
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Research ArticleArticle

Chronic Administration of Taurine to Aged Rats Improves the Electrical and Contractile Properties of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

Sabata Pierno, Annamaria De Luca, Claudia Camerino, Ryan J. Huxtable and Diana Conte Camerino
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics September 1, 1998, 286 (3) 1183-1190;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
Research ArticleArticle

Chronic Administration of Taurine to Aged Rats Improves the Electrical and Contractile Properties of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

Sabata Pierno, Annamaria De Luca, Claudia Camerino, Ryan J. Huxtable and Diana Conte Camerino
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics September 1, 1998, 286 (3) 1183-1190;
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Materials and Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

  • PST3093 Stimulates SERCA2a and Improves Cardiac Function
  • CRV431 Decreases Liver Fibrosis and Tumor Development
  • Down-Regulation of Rat Hepatic Microsomal Cytochromes P-450 in Microvesicular Steatosis Induced by Orotic Acid
Show more Article

Similar Articles

Advertisement
  • Home
  • Alerts
Facebook   Twitter   LinkedIn   RSS

Navigate

  • Current Issue
  • Fast Forward by date
  • Fast Forward by section
  • Latest Articles
  • Archive
  • Search for Articles
  • Feedback
  • ASPET

More Information

  • About JPET
  • Editorial Board
  • Instructions to Authors
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Customized Alerts
  • RSS Feeds
  • Subscriptions
  • Permissions
  • Terms & Conditions of Use

ASPET's Other Journals

  • Drug Metabolism and Disposition
  • Molecular Pharmacology
  • Pharmacological Reviews
  • Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
ISSN 1521-0103 (Online)

Copyright © 2023 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics