Militante Julius, Lombardini John B
Department of Pharmacology, Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas 79430, USA.
Neurochem Res. 2004 Jan;29(1):151-60. doi: 10.1023/b:nere.0000010444.97959.1b.
There is strong evidence that the retina degenerates with age. Electroretinogram deficits and photoreceptor cell death and structural abnormalities have been observed in both animal and human studies of aging. The mechanism behind this phenomenon is a very interesting area for scientific and medical study. Current data support the link between retinal degeneration and increased oxidative stress. Taurine is a free amino acid found in high millimolar concentrations in the retina, and age-related deficiency in retinal levels of taurine may contribute to the retinal degeneration associated with age. Taurine acts as an antioxidant and taurine replenishment is known to alleviate oxidative stress in the retina. Thus taurine supplementation may be useful in the treatment of age-related retinal dysfunction.
有充分证据表明视网膜会随着年龄增长而退化。在动物和人类衰老研究中均观察到视网膜电图缺陷、光感受器细胞死亡及结构异常。这一现象背后的机制是科学和医学研究中一个非常有趣的领域。目前的数据支持视网膜退化与氧化应激增加之间的联系。牛磺酸是一种在视网膜中以高毫摩尔浓度存在的游离氨基酸，视网膜中与年龄相关的牛磺酸水平缺乏可能导致与年龄相关的视网膜退化。牛磺酸具有抗氧化作用，已知补充牛磺酸可减轻视网膜中的氧化应激。因此，补充牛磺酸可能有助于治疗与年龄相关的视网膜功能障碍。
