Effect of taurine administration on symptoms, severity, or clinical outcome of dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure in humans: a systematic review

Abstract

Background: Taurine, 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, is an amino acid found in animal products. Taurine is produced for human consumption as a supplement and ingredient in beverages. Supplementation is a safe, inexpensive, and effective treatment for dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in domestic mammals, however it is currently unlicensed in Europe and the United States for human medical treatment. Recent genome-wide association studies of DCM have identified the locus of the taurine transporter (SLC6A6). To assess whether taurine supplementation may be a novel therapeutic option for DCM, we undertook a systematic review. Methods: Four electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane Central Register, Web of Science, Biomed Central) were searched until 11/03/21. Included studies of human participants reported measured phenotypes or symptoms for cardiomyopathy, heart failure (HF), or altered left ventricle structure or function, administering taurine in any formulation, by any method. Non-English articles were excluded. Meta-analysis was completed in R software (version 3.6.0). The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale quality assessment score (NOQAS) tool was used to assess bias. Results: 285 articles were identified, of which eleven met our criteria for inclusion. Only one paper was deemed “high quality” using the NOQAS tool. Taurine supplementation varied across studies; by dose (500 mg to 6g per day), frequency (once to thrice daily), delivery method (tablet, capsule, drink, powder), and duration (2 to 48 weeks). Patient inclusion was all-cause HF patients with ejection fraction (EF) <50% and no study was specific to DCM. While improvements in diastolic and systolic function, exercise capacity, and haemodynamic parameters were described, only EF and stroke volume were measured in enough studies to complete a meta-analysis; the association was not significant with all-cause HF (P<0.05). No significant safety concerns were reported. Conclusions: A formal clinical trial is needed to address whether taurine supplementation is beneficial to the approximately 1/250 individuals with DCM in the population.

The Genetic Factors Influencing Cardiomyopathies and Heart Failure across the Allele Frequency Spectrum

“…The findings identified robust replication of two out of three novel genome-wide significant loci found to increase the risk of sporadic DCM by a third. This includes SLC6A6 which encodes a taurine transporter, a nonessential amino acid which maintains cellular integrity and is found in very high concentrations in the heart and muscle [56][57][58][59]. A recent article in Science has identified anti-aging effects of this amino acid but a clinical trial is needed to investigate whether supplementation improves the symptoms of patients with DCM [60].…”

Genetics of Cardiac Aging Implicate Organ-Specific Variation

“…Another subset of genes may play active roles in cardiac development (MECOM [44][45][46][47] , ANKRD1 48 , ADPRHL1 [49][50][51] , WNT9b 52 ). Other loci were near genes relevant to arterial structure and function (PI15 53 , ELN/elastin) 54 , cellular senescence (CDKN1A/p21 [55][56][57][58] , HMGA2 [59][60][61] , SLC6A6 [62][63][64] ) and proteostasis (KLHL3 65,66 , UHRF1 67 ).…”