Perinatal exposure to taurine (a β-amino acid) can alter adult physiological functions, including arterial pressure, hormonal and renal functions. Whereas perinatal taurine supplementation appears to have only minor effects on adult physiology, perinatal taurine depletion is associated with multiple adverse health effects, especially in animals postnatally exposed to other insults. New studies ...

Taurine plays an important role in the modulation of cardiovascular function by acting not only within the brain but also within peripheral tissues. We found that IV injection of taurine to male rats caused hypotension and tachycardia. A single injection of taurine significantly lowered the systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure blood pressure in freely moving long Evans control rats. W...

PURPOSE Some researchers found decreased levels of plasma taurine in obese subjects and animals, and reduced expression of an important enzyme of taurine synthesis. These evidences, coupled with the metabolic imbalance of obesity and the possible anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of taurine, highlighted the use of taurine as a supplement in obesity treatment. The aim of the present stud...

Taurine is one of the most abundant free amino acids in the brain. In a number of studies, taurine has been reported to activate glycine receptors (Gly-Rs) at moderate concentrations (> or = 100 microM), and to be a weak agonist at GABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)-Rs), which are usually activated at high concentrations (> or = 1 mM). In this study, we show that taurine reduced the excitability of tha...

All animals, except for the placental mammals, conjugate their bile acids exclusively with taurine. However, in certain of the placental mammals, glycine conjugates are also found. The basis for the appearance of glycine conjugation among the placental mammals was investigated. The reaction of choloyl-CoA with glycine and taurine, as catalysed by the soluble fraction from guinea-pig liver, had ...

Taurine metabolism by two phototrophically grown purple nonsulfur bacteria enrichment isolates has been examined. Rhodopseudomonas palustris (strain Tau1) grows with taurine as a sole electron donor, sulfur and nitrogen source during photoautotrophic growth. Rhodobacter sphaeroides (strain Tau3) grows on the compound as sole electron donor, sulfur and nitrogen source, and partial carbon source,...

Accumulating evidence suggests that dietary taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) exerts beneficial anti-inflammatory effects in the large intestine. In this study, we investigated the possible impact of taurine on human colonic microbiota using our single-batch fermentation system (Kobe University Human Intestinal Microbiota Model; KUHIMM). Fecal samples from eight humans were individually cult...

Transepithelial taurine fluxes determined in short-circuited monolayer cultures of flounder renal proximal cells in Ussing chambers revealed net taurine secretion. Both unidirectional secretory and reabsorptive taurine fluxes exhibited saturation kinetics contributed by two distinct saturable transepithelial taurine transport systems operating at different taurine concentration ranges. The taur...

The relation between blood taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) concentrations and obesity was investigated. Taurine is supplied to the body by dietary ingestion as well as by de novo synthesis; it is anabolized by cysteine dioxygenase (CDO), which is abundantly expressed in liver and white adipose tissue. Overexpression of CDO in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes caused a decrease in the level of cysteine ...

Background: Taurine is an organic amino acid and a major constituent of bile. With its contribution to various cellular functions, it has demonstrated therapeutic effects in wide range diseases. Since there lack literature investigating taurine as treatment for lupus nephritis (LN), here we examined the potential LN.