Mechanisms Underlying Taurine Protection Against Glutamate-Induced Neurotoxicity

And since glutamate poisoning is one of the components of the neuronal cascade of death your doctor and researcher need to be following this. Ask whether they are considering testosterone reduction to help in reducing glutamate problems. And is your great stroke association putting all this together into their strategy to reduce stroke disability?  Of course not, we don't have one yet.
http://cjns.metapress.com/content/q57v7qu0337w6q14/?id=Q57V7QU0337W6Q14

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Authors

Hai-Bo Ye¹, Hai-Bo Shi¹, Shan-Kai Yin¹

¹Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China

Abstract

Taurine appears to exert potent protections against glutamate (Glu)-induced injury to neurons, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. The possibly protected targets consist of the plasma membrane and the mitochondrial as well as endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes. Protection may be provided through a variety of effects, including the prevention of membrane depolarization, neuronal excitotoxicity and mitochondrial energy failure, increases in intracellular free calcium ([Ca²⁺]i), activation of calpain, and reduction of Bcl-2 levels. These activities are likely to be linked spatially and temporally in the neuroprotective functions of taurine. In addition, events that occur downstream of Glu stimulation, including altered enzymatic activities, apoptotic pathways, and necrosis triggered by the increased [Ca²⁺]i, can be inhibited by taurine. This review discusses the possible molecular mechanisms of taurine against Glu-induced neuronal injury, providing a better understanding of the protective processes, which might be helpful in the development of novel interventional strategies.