Effects of dietary taurine supplementation on plasma and liver lipids in OVX rats fed calcium-deficient diet

Taurine supplementation has been shown to have an effect on lowering blood lipids in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. It therefore seemed desirable to find out whether the beneficial effect of taurine on OVX rats fed calcium-deficient diet could also be reproduced. Forty female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups. One group was OVX and the other group received a sham operation (Sham). Each rat group was further divided into the control diet and the taurine supplemented (2.0 g/100 g diet) diet group. All rats were fed on calcium-deficient diet and deionized water ad libitum for 6 weeks. Plasma and liver lipids were determined by using commercial kits. LDL-cholesterol concentrations were estimated with the equation of Friedewald et al. (1972). There were no significant differences in body weight gain and food intake between the control and taurine group within Sham and OVX groups, but body weight gain, food intake, and food efficiency ratio was higher in the OVX group. Concentrations of plasma total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol were significantly lower in the taurine fed group of OVX rats fed Ca deficient diet, while HDL-cholesterol concentration was increased in the taurine fed group. Therefore, in this study, we examined whether taurine also prevented hypercholesterolemia induced by ovarian hormone deficiency in ovariectomized rats when they were fed a calcium-deficient diet. These results indicate that taurine may have some beneficial effects on hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia in OVX rats fed calcium-deficient diet.