Posted by Larry Hoover on April 9, 2005, at 15:35:43
In reply to RE: PEA » gromit, posted by Elroy on March 29, 2005, at 6:44:45
> In primary anxiety states, there is too much "brain circuit transmitting" going on (which is why Xanax, a GABA enhancer, is so effective as GABA tends to calm down that neurotransmitting activity). Also, persons with primary anxiety states tend to have excessive levels of "Catecholamines" (the inter-related neurotransmitters of dopamine, noradrenalin, and adrenalin) in the system already. Therefore (as I quickly came to find out through trial), the selegiline - and especially as combined with DLPA - is not a good protocol for primary anxiety states.
>
> XTrue. 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.
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.
http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/fulltext/taurine3-2.html
Now, this review article doesn't reflect more recent research which shows a neuromodulatory effect from taurine.
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:Larry Hoover
thread:452259
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050323/msgs/482060.html