Dietary taurine supplementation: hypolipidemic and antiatherogenic effects

Taurine supplementation may prove to be a safe and convenient method to reverse high blood holesterol and the associated rise in atherosclerosis. Although human studies are limited, experiments sing animal models provide extensive proof of the hypolipidemic and antiatherogenic effects of aurine. Examples of these animal models involve feeding with high-fat diets, genetically determined r heritable disease conditions, and artificially induced or genetic diabetes. Most importantly, the ddition of taurine to the diet clearly has effects against pathological increases in serum and liver holesterol and triglycerides. Another consistent and noteworthy effect of taurine is the simulation of holesterol 7 -hydroxylase activity, the enzyme that is responsible for the catabolism of cholesterol nto bile acids. Taurine also exhibited considerable effects on atherosclerotic lipid accumulation, erhaps through an antioxidative mechanism and through the elevation of HDL cholesterol levels. ata from animal model systems support the specific cardiovascular benefits of taurine, and hopefully, his research will be continued in human studies in the future. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.