The Role of Taurine in Mitochondria Health: More Than Just an Antioxidant

Taurine is a naturally occurring sulfur-containing amino acid that is found abundantly in excitatory tissues, such as the heart, brain, retina and skeletal muscles. Taurine was first isolated in the 1800s, but not much was known about this molecule until the 1990s. In 1985, taurine was first approve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2021-08, Vol.26 (16), p.4913
Main Authors: Jong, Chian Ju, Sandal, Priyanka, Schaffer, Stephen W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
5-taurinomethyluridine
Aging
Amino acids
antioxidant
Antioxidants
Apoptosis
Cardiomyopathy
Cardiovascular diseases
Congestive heart failure
Diet
Energy drinks
Glycerol
Heart failure
Membranes
Metabolic disorders
Metabolic syndrome
Mitochondria
Mitochondrial DNA
Muscles
Neurological diseases
Neurological disorders
Oxidation
Oxidative stress
Phosphorylation
Proteins
Retina
Review
Skeletal muscle
Sulfur
Taurine
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Summary:Taurine is a naturally occurring sulfur-containing amino acid that is found abundantly in excitatory tissues, such as the heart, brain, retina and skeletal muscles. Taurine was first isolated in the 1800s, but not much was known about this molecule until the 1990s. In 1985, taurine was first approved as the treatment among heart failure patients in Japan. Accumulating studies have shown that taurine supplementation also protects against pathologies associated with mitochondrial defects, such as aging, mitochondrial diseases, metabolic syndrome, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders. In this review, we will provide a general overview on the mitochondria biology and the consequence of mitochondrial defects in pathologies. Then, we will discuss the antioxidant action of taurine, particularly in relation to the maintenance of mitochondria function. We will also describe several reported studies on the current use of taurine supplementation in several mitochondria-associated pathologies in humans.
ISSN:1420-3049
1420-3049
DOI:10.3390/molecules26164913