Sunday Oct 12, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in International Journal of Endocrinology suggests that taking taurine supplements can help prevent retinopathy in patients with diabetes mellitus.

To examine the effect of taurine on the diabetic retinopathy, the study compared four groups of rabbits, one group without diabetes mellitus as controls, one group with antibiotic-induced diabetes, but not treated with anything, one group with antibiotic induced diabetes mellitus and treated with 200 mg per kg body weight in drinking water and the fourth group with induced diabetes mellitus and treated with 400 mg taurine per kg body weight in drinking water.  The intervention lasted for 15 weeks.

At the end of the 15-week experiment, taurine supplementation was found to significantly ameliorate the antibiotic induced hyperglycemia and protected the retina from electrophysiological changes.

Retinopathy is common among patients with diabetes mellitus.  Authors of the study cited other researchers as finding that 80% of patients living with diabetes mellitus for 15 or more years showed signs of retinopathy, which is the leading cause of blindness.

Taurine is an amino acids that is found in the retina in a high concentration, meaning that taurine as an antioxidant can be important for the retina.  Taurine also plays some other physiological roles in animals and humans.  

Taurine can be synthesized from methionine and cysteine metabolism in humans although the yield is low.  Taurine is found in meat and meat or seafood.  The study demonstrated that taking taurine supplements can be effective at preventing retinopathy in patients with diabetes mellitus. (David Liu, PHD)

Samuel Tung-Hsing Chiang, Shang-Min Yeh, Yi-Chen Chen, Shiun-Long Lin, and Jung-Kai Tseng, Investigation of the Protective Effects of Taurine against Alloxan-Induced  Diabetic Retinal Changes via Electroretinogram and Retinal Histology with New Zealand White Rabbits, International Journal of Endocrinology, 2014.