Taurine-Derived Compounds Produce Anxiolytic Effects in Rats Following Developmental Lead Exposure

Lead (Pb²⁺) is a developmental neurotoxicant that disrupts the GABA-shift and subsequently causes alterations in the brain's excitation-to-inhibition (E/I) balance. Taurine is a well-established neuroprotective and inhibitory compound for regulating brain excitability. Since mechanistically taurine can facilitate neuronal inhibition through the GABA-_AR, the present study examined the anxiolytic potential of taurine derivatives. Treatment groups consisted of the following developmental Pb²⁺-exposures: Control (0 ppm) and Perinatal (150 ppm or 1,000 ppm lead acetate in the drinking water). Rats were scheduled for behavioral tests between postnatal days (PND) 36-45 with random drug assignments to either saline, taurine, or taurine-derived compound (TD-101, TD-102, or TD-103) to assess the rats' responsivity to each drug in mitigating the developmental Pb²⁺-exposure and anxiety-like behaviors through the GABAergic system. Long-Evans hooded rats were assessed using an open field (OF) test for preliminary locomotor assessment. Twenty-four hours later, the same rats were exposed to the elevated plus maze (EPM) and were given an i.p. injection of 43 mg/Kg of the saline, taurine, or TD drugs 15 min prior to testing. Each rat was tested using the triple-blind random assignment method for each drug condition. The OF data revealed that Control female rats had increased locomotor activity over Control male rats, and the Pb²⁺-exposed males and females had increased locomotor activity when compared to the Control male and female rats. However, in the EPM, the Control female rats exhibited more anxiety-like behaviors over Control male rats, and the Pb²⁺-exposed male and female rats showed selective responsivity to TD drugs when compared to taurine. For Pb²⁺-exposed males, TD-101 showed consistent recovery of anxiety-like behaviors similar to that of taurine regardless of Pb²⁺ dose, whereas in Pb²⁺-exposed females TD-101 and TD-103 showed greater anxiolytic responses in the EPM. The results from the present psychopharmacological study suggests that taurine and its derivatives are interesting drug candidates to explore sex-specific mechanisms and actions of taurine and the associated GABAergic receptor properties by which these compounds alleviate anxiety as a potential behavioral pharmacotherapy for neurodevelopmental Pb²⁺ exposure.