Dietary supplementation with the inhibitory amino acid taurine suppresses autotomy in HA rats.

Taurine is an inhibitory amino acid in the CNS. When supplied to rats it produces analgesia in some acute pain tests. Here we examined the effect of taurine supplementation on sensitivity to pain in intact rats, and whether perioperative dietary supplementation with taurine in rats would suppress autotomy, a behavior produced by peripheral neurectomy and related to neuropathic pain. Thermal pain sensitivity of intact rats consuming 1% taurine in the drinking solution for 2 weeks was not significantly different from that of control rats. Autotomy levels, determined in rats consuming taurine pre-, post- or perioperatively were significantly lower than in matching control groups. We conclude that taurine plays an important role in the autotomy model, presumably by protecting inhibitory neurons in the CNS against an excitotoxic damage triggered by injury discharge and ectopic input from the severed nerves.