• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.1206-1211
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• 2006

The effects of taurine supplementation on growth performance, serum and liver concentrations of lipid, fatty acid composition and lipid peroxidation in the livers of broilers under chronic heat exposure conditions were investigated. The chicks with a similar body weight were equally assigned to one of three controlled-environment chambers. The brolier chicks, which were kept at $34^{\circ}C$ were fed either with a control diet or the control diet supplemented with 0.8% taurine, whereas broiler chicks kept at $22^{\circ}C$ were fed a control diet. Both of the BW and BW gains of broilers maintained at a temperature of $34^{\circ}C$ were significantly lower than those of the control group, which was maintained at a temperature of $22^{\circ}C$ (p<0.05). However, taurine addition in the diet of birds submitted to heat stress siginficantly improved BW gain (p<0.05). The feed intake of chicks declined with increases in temperature. The relative liver and gall bladder weights of chicks fed the control diet and maintained at $34^{\circ}C$ were significantly lower than those measured in the control birds (p<0.05). However, dietary taurine was found to compensate for these reductions in liver and gall bladder weights. Relative weights of abdominal fat did not differ significantly among the three groups. Serum triglyceride concentrations were significantly lower in the chicks fed the control diet and maintained at $34^{\circ}C$ compare to those measured in the chicks fed the control diet at $22^{\circ}C$ (p<0.05). Heat stress resulted in a significant reduction in total lipid and triglyceride levels, but also increased the levels of total cholesterol in the liver (p<0.05). However, dietary taurine supplementation under the heat stress condition resulted in the recovery, to control levels, of serum triglyceride concentrations, as well as the amounts of total lipids, triglycerides, and cholesterol in the liver. The livers of chicks fed on taurine diets at $34^{\circ}C$ showed significantly higher proportions of C14:0, C16:1, C18:1, C18:2, and 20:3, and lower C18:0 and C20:4 proportions than those of chicks fed on control diets at the same temperature (p<0.05). The total levels of saturated fatty acids decreased, but monounsaturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acid levels increased in chicks fed the taurine diet, as compared to chicks fed the control diet at $34^{\circ}C$ (p<0.05). Peroxidizability indices were significantly lower in the heat-exposed chicks fed the taurine diet than in the non-taurine heat-exposed groups (p<0.05). In conclusion, dietary taurine results in an increase in the growth performances of chicks under heat stress conditions via improvements in lipid absorption and metabolism, as well as an induced reduction in lipid peroxidation.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.825-833
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• 2002

The effects of dietary supplementation of Eleutherococcus senticosus, taurine and carnitine on maximal endurance exercise performance along with other related parameters were evaluated in rats that underwent aerobic exercise training for 6 weeks. Thirty-two male rats (4 weeks old) were randomly divided into 4 groups, and fed experimental diets and/or aerobic exercise trained according to the protocol: SC (sedentary control group), EC (exercise-trained control group), EE (exercise-trained Eleutherococcus senticosus-supplemented group), and EETC (exercise-trained Eleutherococcus senticosus, taurine and carnitine-supplemented group). The food efficiency ratio of EC rats was significantly lower than the value for SC rats (p < 0.01). Exercise-trained control animals (92 $\pm$ 8.8 min) could run significantly longer until exhausted on the treadmill than sedentary control rats (11 $\pm$ 0.8 min) (p < 0.001). Animals fed an Eleutherococcus senticosus-supplemented diet, and an Eleuthherococcus sonticosus, taurine and carnitine- supplemented diet while undergoing aerobic exercise training for 6 weeks exhibited, respectively, 8 and 5 minutes longer running performance until exhausted than the rats fed the control diet. The gastrocnemius muscle glycogen concentration of the rats, measured at 48 hours post maximal exercise performance test, was 43% higher in EC rats than the value for SC rats (p < 0.05), but was not different among EC, EE, and EETC rats. The mitochondrial citrate synthase activity of the soleus muscle was significantly higher in EC rats compared to the value for SC rats (p < 0.01), and showed a tendency to increase, without statistical significance, in EE or EETC rats compared to the value for EC rats. These results indicate that aerobic exercise training for 6 weeks significantly improved maximal exercise performance, muscle glycogen content along with citrate synthase activity, which are important in the energy metabolism of muscle under aerobic exercise. Dietary supplementation of Eleutherococcus senticosus in rats while undergoing aerobic exercise training improved maximal endurance exercise performance without significantly affecting muscle glycogen content and enzyme activities involved in energy metabolism during exercise. Taurine and carnitine supplementation failed to show an additive effect on maximal endurance exercise performance when consumed along with Eleutherococcus senticosus.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.249-255
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• 2015

An 8 week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate whether methionine and cysteine would effectively spare taurine supplementation on growth performance in juvenile rock bream Oplegnathus fasciatus. Triplicate groups of 25 fish averaging $2.74{\pm}0.04g$ ($mean{\pm}SD$) were fed one of the experimental diets. Five experimental diets including a fish meal based control diet were prepared by adding sulfur amino acid at fixed level of 1.0% and taurine at graded levels of 0%, 0.25%, 0.5% and 1.0% ($S+Tau_0$, $S+Tau_{0.25}$, $S+Tau_{0.5}$ and $S+Tau_{1.0}$, respectively). After the feeding trial, growth performance of fish fed the $S+Tau_{0.25}$, $S+Tau_{0.5}$ and $S+Tau_{1.0}$ diets were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those of fish fed the Control diet. ANOVA test suggested that when sulfur amino acid were supplemented to the diets, the optimum taurine supplementation level could be 0.25% in the diet, and broken line analysis of weight gain indicated a level of 0.33%, for positive effects on growth and feed utilization. Fish whole-body protein content and taurine concentration steadily increased with the increase of dietary level in the presence of sulfur amino acid in the diets. On the other hand, whole-body lipid content significantly decreased with the incremental levels of dietary taurine. In conclusion, the results of the present study clearly indicated that dietary supplementation of methionine and cysteine at a level of 1% could spare 0.25 to 0.33% of taurine in juvenile O. fasciatus diets.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.659-664
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• 1999

Male mice (ddY strain) were fed with the chow diet containing 10% sucrose supplemented with orotic acid at the 1% level or/and taurine at the 5% levels for 14 days. The concentrations of triacylglycerol and cholesterol in the liver were significantly lower in the orotic acid group than the control group. When taurine and orotic acid were administered simultaneously, the concentrations of triacylglycerol and cholesterol in the liver were higher and lower, respectively, compared to the orotic acid group. The concentration of triacylglycerol in the serum was higher in the taurine group than that of the control or the orotic acid groups, and the simultaneous supplementation of orotic acid and taurine further enhanced. There were no significantly difference in body weight gain, diary food intake, and the concentrations of serum cholesterol and hepatic phospholipid. These results suggest that dietary taurine stimulated the increasion of hepatic triacylglycerol by orotic acid in mouse.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Poultry Science Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.102-103
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• 2001

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of feather digests on the growth of broiler chicks and taurine content in the broiler meat. In Experiment 1, a total of 40 broiler chickens(Ross) were assigned to 4 dietary treatments: control(T1), regular feather meal(FM) diet(R-FM, T2), NaOH treated FM diet(NaOH-FM,T3), HNO3 treated FM diet(HNO3-FM,T4). In Experiment 2, a total of 70 broiler chickens were assigned to 7 dietary treatments: T1~T4(same as those of Exp. 1), modified HNO3 treated FM diet(M-HNO3-FM,T5), hair meal diet(HM,T6) and 0.22% cystine supplemented diet(CYS,T7). Feather meals and hair meal were supplemented at the 5% in the diet. In Experiment 1 and 2, weight gain of chicks fed R-FM and NaOH-FM tended to be higher than those of the control and HNO3-FM. In Experiment 2, weight gain of chicks fed CYS was highest followed by NaOH-FM, HM, M-HNO3-FM, HNO3-FM, control and R-FM. In Experiment 1, taurine content in breast muscle of chicks fed NaOH-FM was significantly higher(P<0.05) than that of control. In Experiment 2, taurine content in breast muscle of chicks fed NaOH-FM and CYS tended to be higher than that of other groups. Taurine content in leg muscle was significantly different among treatments as NaOH-FM and R-FM being highest followed by M-HNO3-FM, CYS, control, HNO3-FM and BM. Taurine content in the liver(Exp. 1 and 2) and heart(Exp. 2) were not significantly affected by treatments. These results indicated that 5% NaOH-FM in the diet was effective in increasing taurine content in breast and leg muscle of broiler chicks.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.20.1-20.8
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• 2017

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of dietary supplementation of taurine for juvenile olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) at low water temperature ($16.4{\pm}0.36^{\circ}C$). Fish meal (FM)-based diet was used as the control diet. Four other experimental diets were prepared by adding taurine to FM-based diet at 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, and 1. 50% (T1, T2, T3, and T4, respectively). Each experimental diet was fed to triplicate groups of fish (initial mean body weight, 19.5 g) for 10 weeks. At the end of the feeding trial, growth performance and feed utilization, hematological parameters, non-specific immune responses, whole-body proximate composition, and liver mRNA expression of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) were investigated. Feed conversion ratio was significantly reduced while protein efficiency ratio was significantly increased in taurine-supplemented groups. Hematocrit and hemoglobin were also significantly increased while plasma cholesterol levels were decreased in taurine-supplemented groups than those in the control group. Nitroblue-tetrazolium, myeloperoxidase and lysozyme activities, and plasma immunoglobulin level were significantly increased by taurine supplementation. These results suggest that dietary taurine supplementation is effective in improving growth performances, feed utilization, and innate immunity of olive flounder in low water temperature season.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.13-16
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• 2008

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 (2.0g/100g 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.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.150-157
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• 2001

Intestinal absorption of dietary taurine is one of the regulatory component maintaining taurine homeostasis along with renal reabsorption, bile acid conjugation and secretion, and de nobo synthesis of taurine in mammals. Recent observations of decreased enterocytic levels of taurine in response to trauma, infection and surgical insults, postulate the possibility that intestinal taurine absorption might be impaired in such stressed conditions. The aim of the present study was to evaluate changes in enterocytic taurine transporter activity using the human intestinal colon carcinoma cell line, HT-29, in various stress-induced conditions. Pretreatment of the HT-29 cells with dexamethasone, a stress hormone(0.1,1,10 or 100$\mu$M) for 3 hrs, or with E coli heat-stable enterotoxin(10, 100, or 200nM) for 30 minutes in order to induce the condition of enterotoxigenic infection did not influence taurine uptake as compared to the value found in control cells. In contrast, pretreatment of the cells with cholera toxin(10, 100, 500, or 1000ng/ml)for 3hr or 24hr significantly decreased taurine uptake by HT-29 cells to 40~50% of the value found in untreated control cells. Kinetic studies of the taurine transporter activity were conducted in control and cholera toxin treated HT-29 cells with varying taurine concentrations(2~60$\mu$M) in the uptake medium. Pretreatment of the cells with cholera toxin(100ng/ml) for 3hr did not influence the Vmax, but resulted in a 55% increase in the Michaelis-Menten constant(Km) of the taurine transporter compared to those in control cells. These results suggest that cholera toxin-induced reduction in taurine transporter activity in HT-29 cells is associated with decreased affinity of the taurine transporter without altering the amount of transporter protein. Intestinal taurine absorption appears to be reduced in the condition of water-borne diseases caused by bacteria such as V. cholerae. This might influence the taurine status of infants and young children more readily, an age group in which the prevalence of intestinal infection is high and the role of intestinal absorption is crucial for maintaining the body taurine pool. (Korean J Nutrition 34(2) : 150-157, 2001)

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.404-414
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• 2015

Taurine is one of the most abundant free ${\beta}$-amino acids in the human body that accounts for 0.1% of the human body weight. It has a sulfonic acid group in place of the more common carboxylic acid group. Mollusks and meat are the major dietary source of taurine, and mother's milks also include high levels of this amino acid. The leukocytes, heart, muscle, retina, kidney, bone, and brain contain more taurine than other organs. Furthermore, taurine can be synthesized in the brain and liver from cysteine. There are no side effects of excessive taurine intake in humans; however, in case of taurine deficiency, retinal abnormalities, reduced plasma taurine concentration, and other abnormalities may occur. Taurine enters the cell via a cell membrane receptor. It is excreted in the urine (approximately 95%) and feces (approximately 5%). Taurine has a number of features and functions, including conjugation with bile acid, reduction of blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, promotion of neuron cell differentiation and growth, antioxidant effects, maintenance of cell membrane stability, retinal development, energy generation, depressant effects, regulation of calcium level, muscle contraction and relaxation, bone formation, anti-inflammatory effects, anti-cancer and anti-atherogenic effects, and osmotic pressure control. However, the properties, functions, and effects of taurine require further studies in future.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1998.11a
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• pp.156-157
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• 1998

Taurine is synthesized in the body or uptaken from dietary and is distributed in the various organs. It differs from other amino acids by virtue of the fact that a sulfonic acid group replaces the carboxyl group of what would be ${\beta}$-alanine. In order to function within the cell it must be transported into the cells by taurine transporter that is spanned 12 transmembrane domains. The human taurine transporter has long cytoplasmic carboxy and amino termini that may function as regulatory attachment sites for other proteins. Six potential protein kinase C(PKC) phosphorylation sites have been reported in human taurine transporter.