Graduate School of Health and Welfare Science, Okayama Prefectural University, Soja, Okayama, 719-1197, Japan.
Department of Nutritional Science, Okayama Prefectural University, Soja, Okayama, 719-1197, Japan.
Amino Acids. 2021 Feb;53(2):159-170. doi: 10.1007/s00726-020-02934-0. Epub 2021 Jan 4.
Taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) is a free amino acid found abundantly in mammalian tissues. Increasing evidence suggests that taurine plays a role in the maintenance of skeletal muscle function and increase of exercise capacity. Most energy drinks contain this amino acid; however, there is insufficient research on the effects of long-term, low-dose supplementation of taurine. In this study, we investigated the effects of long-term administration of taurine at low doses on aging in rodents. In Experiment 1, we examined age-related changes in aging Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (32-92 weeks old) that O consumption and spontaneous activity decreased significantly with aging. In Experiment 2, we examined the effects of long-term (21-week) administration of taurine on healthy aging SD rats. SD rats were stabilized for 32-34 weeks and divided into three groups, administrated water (control), 0.5% taurine (25 mg/kg body weight (BW)/day), or 1% taurine (50 mg/kg BW/day) from age 34 to 56 weeks (5 days/week, 5 mL/kg BW). Our findings suggest that long-term administration of taurine at relatively low dose could attenuate the age-related decline in O consumption and spontaneous locomotor activity. Upon intestinal absorption, taurine might modulate age-related changes in respiratory metabolism and skeletal muscle function via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), cytochrome c (Cycs), myocyte enhancer factor 2A (MEF2A), glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4), and myoglobin, which are regulated by the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). This article examines the mechanism underlying the effects of taurine on age-related changes, which may have potential clinical implications.
牛磺酸（2-氨基乙磺酸）是一种在哺乳动物组织中大量存在的游离氨基酸。越来越多的证据表明，牛磺酸在维持骨骼肌功能和提高运动能力方面发挥作用。大多数能量饮料都含有这种氨基酸；然而，关于牛磺酸长期低剂量补充的影响的研究还不够充分。在这项研究中，我们研究了长期低剂量牛磺酸给药对啮齿动物衰老的影响。在实验 1 中，我们研究了衰老 Sprague-Dawley（SD）大鼠（32-92 周龄）的年龄相关变化，随着衰老，O 消耗和自发活动显著下降。在实验 2 中，我们研究了长期（21 周）牛磺酸给药对健康衰老 SD 大鼠的影响。SD 大鼠在 32-34 周龄时稳定，分为三组，从 34 周龄到 56 周龄（每周 5 天，每天 5 mL/kg BW），分别给予水（对照）、0.5%牛磺酸（25mg/kg BW/天）或 1%牛磺酸（50mg/kg BW/天）。我们的研究结果表明，长期给予相对低剂量的牛磺酸可减轻与年龄相关的 O 消耗和自发运动活动下降。在肠道吸收后，牛磺酸可能通过过氧化物酶体增殖物激活受体γ共激活因子 1-α（PGC-1α）、琥珀酸脱氢酶（SDH）、细胞色素 c（Cycs）、肌细胞增强因子 2A（MEF2A）、葡萄糖转运蛋白 4（GLUT4）和肌红蛋白来调节与年龄相关的呼吸代谢和骨骼肌功能的变化，这些变化受 AMP 激活的蛋白激酶（AMPK）的激活调节。本文研究了牛磺酸对与年龄相关的变化的作用机制，这可能具有潜在的临床意义。
