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World J Cardiol. Nov 26, 2013; 5(11): 404-409
Published online Nov 26, 2013. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v5.i11.404
Taurine supplementation in spontaneously hypertensive rats: Advantages and limitations for human applications
Atchariya Suwanich, J Michael Wyss, Sanya Roysommuti
Atchariya Suwanich, J Michael Wyss, Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, United States
Atchariya Suwanich, Faculty of Medicine, Siam University, Bangkok 10160, Thailand
Sanya Roysommuti, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
Author contributions: Suwanich A, Wyss JM and Roysommuti S substantially contribute to conception and design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data; Suwanich A, Wyss JM and Roysommuti S drafting the article and revising it critically for important intellectual content; and Suwanich A, Wyss JM and Roysommuti S final approval of the version to be published.
Supported by Grants from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements, No.5P50 AT-00477; and the NIH Neuroscience Blueprint Mouse Phenotyping Core at University of Alabama at Birmingham, No.P30 NS-057098; J Michael Wyss, and by a grant from the Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
Correspondence to: Sanya Roysommuti, PhD, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, 123 Mitraparp Road, Muang District, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand. sanya@kku.ac.th
Telephone: +66-43-348394 Fax: +66-43-348394
Received: August 31, 2013
Revised: September 17, 2013
Accepted: October 18, 2013
Published online: November 26, 2013
Processing time: 94 Days and 11.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Many reports indicate that dietary taurine can reduce hypertension in humans and in animal models; however, the hypotensive effect of taurine supplementation depends on many factors. Taurine supplementation improves hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats on a low salt diet but fails to attenuate hypertension on a high salt diet. In humans, some epidemiologic studies suggest that people with high taurine and low salt diets display lower arterial pressure than those with low taurine and high salt diets. This review considers both positive and negative effects of taurine on blood pressure in animal models of hypertension to apply for human interventions.