taurine
taurine is a conditionally-essential amino acid which is not utilized in protein synthesis, but rather is found free or in simple peptides. Taurine has been shown to be essential in certain aspects of mammalian development, and in vitro studies in various species have demonstrated that low levels of taurine are associated with various pathological lesions, including cardiomyopathy, retinal degeneration, and growth retardation, especially if deficiency occurs during development. Metabolic actions of taurine include: bile acid conjugation, detoxification, membrane stabilization, osmoregulation, and modulation of cellular calcium levels. Clinically, taurine has been used with varying degrees of success in the treatment of a wide variety of conditions, including: cardiovascular diseases, hypercholesterolemia, epilepsy and other seizure disorders, macular degeneration, alzheimer's disease, hepatic disorders, alcoholism, and cystic fibrosis.

taurine helps in diabetes

both plasma and platelet taurine levels have been found to be depressed in insulin-dependent diabetic patients; however, these levels were raised to normal with oral taurine supplementation. In addition, the amount of arachidonic acid needed to induce platelet aggregation was lower in these patients than in healthy subjects. Taurine supplementation reversed this effect as well, reducing platelet aggregation. In vitro experiments demonstrated that taurine reduced platelet aggregation in diabetic patients in a dose-dependent manner, while having no effect on the aggregation of platelets from healthy subjects.

taurine helps in hepatic disorders

two groups of patients with acute hepatitis, all with serum bilirubin levels above 3 mg/dl, were studied in a double-blind, randomized protocol. Subjects in the treatment group received 4 grams of taurine three times daily. Bilirubin, total bile acids, and biliary glycine:taurine ratio all decreased significantly in the taurine group within one week as compared to controls.
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