Brain pH and lactic acidosis: quantitative analysis of taurine effect.

A quantitative analysis of taurine effect (facilitation of acid handling capacity of brain in response to anoxia/hypoxia by high levels of cytosolic taurine) was performed utilizing multinuclear (1H, 31P) in vivo nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and in vitro titration analysis. Taurine effects observed in vivo showed excellent quantitative agreement with the predicted values estimated based on brain taurine levels. The study confirmed that high levels of cytosolic taurine indeed facilitate acid buffering capacity of brain and this taurine effect can be readily explained by the physical, and need not involve metabolic, properties of taurine. Taurine appears to be a key component of the brain cytosol system in the fetus.