Taurine: the appeal of a safe amino acid for skeletal muscle disorders

Abstract

Taurine is a natural amino acid present as free form in many mammalian tissues and in particular in skeletal muscle. Taurine exerts many physiological functions, including membrane stabilization, osmoregulation and cytoprotective effects, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions as well as modulation of intracellular calcium concentration and ion channel function. In addition taurine may control muscle metabolism and gene expression, through yet unclear mechanisms. This review summarizes the effects of taurine on specific muscle targets and pathways as well as its therapeutic potential to restore skeletal muscle function and performance in various pathological conditions. Evidences support the link between alteration of intracellular taurine level in skeletal muscle and different pathophysiological conditions, such as disuse-induced muscle atrophy, muscular dystrophy and/or senescence, reinforcing the interest towards its exogenous supplementation. In addition, taurine treatment can be beneficial to reduce sarcolemmal hyper-excitability in myotonia-related syndromes. Although further studies are necessary to fill the gaps between animals and humans, the benefit of the amino acid appears to be due to its multiple actions on cellular functions while toxicity seems relatively low. Human clinical trials using taurine in various pathologies such as diabetes, cardiovascular and neurological disorders have been performed and may represent a guide-line for designing specific studies in patients of neuromuscular diseases.

Activation of osmolyte pathways in inflammatory myopathy and Duchenne muscular dystrophy points to osmoregulation as a contributing pathogenic mechanism

“…A proteomic study of the heart muscle from 20-month-old mdx mice has also shown a modest yet significant 1.4-fold increase of AR protein levels. 24 In contrast to the increased expression we report here, significantly lower TauT levels have been found in mdx muscle (reviewed in De Luca et al 25 ), and taurine supplements were shown to ameliorate exercise-induced loss of muscle strength in these mice. 26 This discrepancy could reflect the unique features of human disease vs the murine disease model.…”

Taurine reverses sodium fluoride-mediated increase in inflammation, caspase-3 activity, and oxidative damage along the brain–pituitary–gonadal axis in male rats

“…Cellular biosynthesis of taurine occurs in the liver via the cysteine sulfonic acid pathway while it is exogenously obtained from dietary sources (Huxtable 1992;De Luca et al 2015). Besides its nutraceutical role, taurine reportedly exerts robust pharmacological actions via modulation of signaling pathways and targets (De Luca et al 2015).…”

“…Cellular biosynthesis of taurine occurs in the liver via the cysteine sulfonic acid pathway while it is exogenously obtained from dietary sources (Huxtable 1992;De Luca et al 2015). Besides its nutraceutical role, taurine reportedly exerts robust pharmacological actions via modulation of signaling pathways and targets (De Luca et al 2015). Although no data on the systemic toxicity of taurine is available till date, 3 g per day of taurine for 4 months produced no obvious signs of toxicity during human trials (Shao and Hathcock 2008).…”

Comparison between Fibroscan and Serum Taurine for Early Diagnosis of Liver Fibrosis in Egyptian Patients Infected with HCV

“…Tau possesses anti-inflammatory and immune-regulatory properties [21]. In iron-potentiated alcoholic liver fibrotic rats, Tau restored mitochondrial function, prevented DNA damage and apoptosis.…”