Monday June 9, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in Food Chemistry and Toxicology suggests that taking taurine supplements may help prevent or reverse diabetic neuropathy, a common complication of diabetes mellitus caused by the oxidative stress that is induced by hyperglycemia.   Taurine is an endogenous antioxidant.

For the study, some rats developed diabetes mellitus after exposure to streptozotocin and diabetic rats and controls were drinking water with or without taurine supplemented at the dose of 2% for 8 weeks.

In diabetic rats, weight loss, hyperglycemia, and oxidative stress indicated by the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations, were observed.  In the brains of diabetic rats, also observed were increased expression of NF-κB and decreased levels of Nrf2, HO-1, GLUT1,3, compared with healthy rat brains.

Taurine did not change body weight and blood glucose levels, but partially reduced plasma MDA concentration and also alleviated neuroinflammation in diabetic rats by increased suppresion of NF-κB and increased expression of Nrf2, HO-1, GLUT1,3.

The study concluded "taurine reduces the severity of oxidative stress through activating antioxidative defense signaling pathway in diabetic rat brain."

Reference

Agca CA, Tuzcu M, Hayirli A, Sahin K.  Taurine Ameliorates Neuropathy via Regulating NF-κB and Nrf2/HO-1 Signaling Cascades in Diabetic Rats.  Food Chem Toxicol. 2014 Jun 4