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taurine; 2-aminoethylsulfonic acid
Physiology:
- considered semiessential because levels are often lower in stressful or other unhealthy states or with aging [1]
- taurine & its metabolites increase in response to endurance exercise in humans
- taurine supplementation improves life span in mice & health span in monkeys
- humans can produce it from cysteine
- also present in diet, very little comes from plants [1]
Pathology:
- lower taurine, hypotaurine, & N-acetyltaurine concentrations are associated with abdominal obesity, hypertension, inflammation, & type 2 diabetes [1]
Pharmacology:
- generally regarded as safe (GRAS)
- dosage: 250 mg/kg daily (15 g for 60 kg person)
- potential uses: type 2 diabetes, hypertension, weight reduction [1]
Comparative biology:
- cats lack sulfinoalanine decarboxylase, an enzyme necessary for taurine synthesis thus must obtain taurine from diet [1]
Interactions
molecular events
General
amine
metabolic agent (metabolic modifier)
sulfonic acid
Database Correlations
PUBCHEM cid=1123
Kegg map/map00430
References
- Lowe D
Taurine
Science. 2023. June 22
https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/taurine
- Singh P et al
Taurine deficiency as a driver of aging.
Science. 2023 380(6649):eabn9257 June 9
PMID: 37289866
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn9257
Substructure-of
taurolithocholate; taurolithocholic acid