Kt. Gottschallpass et al., DEPRESSION OF THE ELECTRORETINOGRAM IN RATS DEFICIENT IN ZINC AND TAURINE DURING PRENATAL AND POSTNATAL LIFE, Journal of nutritional biochemistry, 9(11), 1998, pp. 621-628
The objective of this this study was to investigate whether zinc inter
acts with taurine to influence the development of the electroretinogra
m. Virgin female Sprague-Dawley rats were bred overnight and assigned
to 1 of 4 treatments in a 2 x 2 factorial design with two levels of zi
nc (50 mu g/g through gestation and 50 mu g/g after parturition; 15 mu
g/g through gestation and 7.5 mu g/g after parturition) and two level
s of taurine (2 or 0 mu mol/g). Guanidinoethyl sulfonate (10 g/L), a s
tructural analogue of taurine, was added to the drinking water of the
animals receiving 0 mu mol/g taurine. At postnatal day 23, male pups (
n = 10) were weaned onto their respective diets. Dark-adapted electror
etinograms were recorded as a function of stimulus intensity on 7 1/2-
8 1/2-week-old anesthetized pups. Two-factor analysis of variance demo
nstrated no interaction between zinc and taurine for a- or b-wave ampl
itudes or latencies (P < 0.05). Zinc and taurine deficiencies each ind
ependently depressed electroretinogram a-wave and b-wave amplitudes bu
t not latencies. The amplitude of the b-wave was plotted as a function
of log stimulus intensity, and an iterative curve-fitting procedure w
as used to determine the maximum response, slope, and half-saturation
constant. No interaction was noted. A significant treatment effect on
maximum response was demonstrated for zinc (P = 0.0498) and taurine (P
= 0.0014). No treatment effects were evident for the half-saturation
constant or slope. These findings indicate that zinc and taurine defic
iencies are not synergistic in their depressing effects on the electro
retinogram in this model. (C) Elsevier Science Inc. 1998.