# TEST OF TAURINE AS AN ESSENTIAL NUTRIENT

> **NIH NIH R01** · INSTITUTE FOR BASIC RES IN DEV DISABIL · 1993 · $267,752

## Abstract

DESCRIPTION (Principal Investigator's Abstract):  Human infants fed
low-taurine commercial infant formulas have low plasma and urine taurine
concentrations compared to infants fed human milk, which is very rich in
taurine.  Infants and children fed by taurine-free parenteral nutrition
show similarly reduced plasma taurine levels and ophthalmopscopic and
electroretinographic abnormalities, all of which normalize when taurine is
provided.  Recently it was reported that human preterm infants fed formula
low in taurine had less mature auditory evoked responses and an increased
interval between stimulus and response than similar infants fed formula
supplemented with taurine.  In developing cats, low-taurine diets lead to
retinal photoreceptor degeneration as well as abnormal development of the
visual cortex and cerebellum.

This project is studying dietary taurine deprivation in rhesus monkeys in
order to define its functional, biochemical, and morphological effects in a
developing primate.  In studies now completed, rhesus infants fed a
taurine-free soy protein-based human infant formula from birth had reduced
plasma taurine levels similar to those in human infants fed the same
formulas.  Their visual acuity was below normal during the first 3
postnatal months and they showed degenerative changes in retinal
photoreceptors, particularly cones in the foveal region, and abnormalities
in the morphology of the visual cortex at 3 and 6 months of age.  The
proposed studies will continue to examine the progression of these effects
in 12 and 24-month-old groups and their reversibility in infants deprived
of taurine until 6 months and then supplemented until 12 months.  Methods
will include:  1.  Quantitative morphometry and measurements of synapse
formation and dendritic spines in visual cortex and frontal cortex;
morphology and ultrastructure of the lateral geniculate nucleus and
superior colliculus.  2.  Additional measures of visual acuity and contrast
sensitivity, behavioral tests of color vision, and foveal
electroretinograms.  3.  Assessment of effects of taurine deprivation on
the auditory system, including brain stem auditory evoked responses.  4.
Studies of learning and memory, including tests of visual recognition
memory in young infants and, in older animals, reversal learning, delayed
alternation and delayed matching-to-sample tests.

These studies will better define the extent of the effects of taurine
deprivation on sensory systems and neural development, whether the change
observed at 3 and 6 months increase progressively with age or spontaneously
regress with increasing maturity, and to what extent they are reversed by
taurine supplementation.  Give the similarity of macaque monkeys to human
infants in their nutritional requirements, brain development and visual
system structure and function, these studies provide the best available
model for assessing the nutritional importance of taurine in human infants.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 2197711
- **Project number:** 5R01HD018678-09
- **Recipient organization:** INSTITUTE FOR BASIC RES IN DEV DISABIL
- **SAM.gov UEI:** LKEPMM3KKF27
- **Principal Investigator:** JOHN A STURMAN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1993
- **Award amount:** $267,752
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1984-05-01 → 1994-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2197711

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 2197711, TEST OF TAURINE AS AN ESSENTIAL NUTRIENT (5R01HD018678-09). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/2197711. Licensed CC0.

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