Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Serum taurine and risk of coronary heart disease: a prospective, nested case–control study

  • Original Contribution
  • Published:
European Journal of Nutrition Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid), a molecule obtained from diet, is involved in bile acid conjugation, blood pressure regulation, anti-oxidation and anti-inflammation. We performed the first prospective study of taurine and CHD risk.

Methods

We conducted a case–control study nested in the New York University Women’s Health Study to evaluate the association between circulating taurine levels and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Taurine was measured in two yearly pre-diagnostic serum samples of 223 CHD cases and 223 matched controls and averaged for a more reliable measurement of long-term taurine levels.

Results

Mean serum taurine was positively related to age and dietary intake of poultry, niacin, vitamin B1, fiber and iron, and negatively related to dietary intake of saturated fat (all p values ≤0.05). There was no statistically significant association between serum taurine levels and the risk of CHD in the overall study population. The adjusted ORs for CHD in increasing taurine tertiles were 1.0 (reference), 0.85 (95% CI, 0.51–1.40) and 0.66 (0.39–1.13; p for trend = 0.14). There was a significant inverse association between serum taurine and CHD risk among women with high total serum cholesterol (>250 mg/dL) (adjusted OR = 0.39 (0.19–0.83) for the third versus first tertile; p for trend = 0.02) but not among those with low total serum cholesterol (p for interaction = 0.01). The data suggest a possible inverse association of serum taurine with diabetes and hypertension risk.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that high levels of taurine may be protective against CHD among individuals with high serum cholesterol levels.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. AHA (2009) 2009 Update at-a-glance. American Heart Association, Dallas, pp 1–36

    Google Scholar 

  2. Mente A, de Koning L, Shannon HS, Anand SS (2009) A systematic review of the evidence supporting a causal link between dietary factors and coronary heart disease. Arch Intern Med 169:659–669

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Visioli F, Hagen TM (2007) Nutritional strategies for healthy cardiovascular aging: focus on micronutrients. Pharmacol Res 55:199–206

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Yamori Y, Nara Y, Ikeda K, Mizushima S (1996) Is taurine a preventive nutritional factor of cardiovascular diseases or just a biological marker of nutrition? Adv Exp Med Biol 403:623–629

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Mizushima S, Moriguchi EH, Ishikawa P, Hekman P, Nara Y et al (1997) Fish intake and cardiovascular risk among middle-aged Japanese in Japan and Brazil. J Cardiovasc Risk 4:191–199

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Huxtable RJ (1992) Physiological actions of taurine. Physiol Rev 72:101–163

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Yamori Y, Liu L, Mizushima S, Ikeda K, Nara Y (2006) Male cardiovascular mortality and dietary markers in 25 population samples of 16 countries. J Hypertens 24:1499–1505

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Yamori Y, Liu L, Ikeda K, Miura A, Mizushima S et al (2001) Distribution of twenty-four hour urinary taurine excretion and association with ischemic heart disease mortality in 24 populations of 16 countries: results from the WHO-CARDIAC study. Hypertens Res 24:453–457

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Greenland S, Robins J (1994) Invited commentary: ecologic studies—biases, misconceptions, and counterexamples. Am J Epidemiol 139:747–760

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Mizushima S, Nara Y, Sawamura M, Yamori Y (1996) Effects of oral taurine supplementation on lipids and sympathetic nerve tone. Adv Exp Med Biol 403:615–622

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Zhang M, Bi LF, Fang JH, Su XL, Da GL et al (2004) Beneficial effects of taurine on serum lipids in overweight or obese non-diabetic subjects. Amino Acids 26:267–271

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Liu L, Liu L, Ding J, Huang Z, He B et al (2001) Ethnic and environmental differences in various markers of dietary intake and blood pressure among Chinese Han and three other minority peoples of China: results from the WHO cardiovascular diseases and alimentary comparison (CARDIAC) study. Hepertens Res 24:315–322

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Fujita T, Katsuyuki A, Noda H, Yasushi I, Sato Y (1987) Effects of increased adrenomedullary activity and taurine in young patients with borderline hypertension. Circulation 75:525–532

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Wójcik O, Koenig KL, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Costa M, Chen Y (2010) The potential protective effects of taurine on coronary heart disease. Atherosclerosis 208:19–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Toniolo PG, Pasternack BS, Shore RE, Sonnenschein E, Koenig KL et al (1991) Endogenous hormones and breast cancer: a prospective cohort study. Breast Cancer Res Treat 18:S23–S26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Block G, Hartman AM (1989) Issues in reproducibility and validity of dietary studies. Am J Clin Nutr 50:1133–1138

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Riboli E, Toniolo P, Kaaks R, Shore RE, Casagrande C et al (1997) Reproducibility of a food frequency questionnaire used in the New York University Women’s Health Study: effect of self-selection by study subjects. Eur J Clin Nutr 51:437–442

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Rose GA, Blackburn H, Gillum RF, Prineas RJ (1982) Cardiovascular survey methods. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  19. Wójcik O, Koenig KL, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Costa M, Chen Y (2010) Reproducibility of HPLC taurine measurements in frozen serum of healthy postmenopausal women. Br J Nutr 104:629–632

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Al-Delaimy WK, Natarajan L, Sun X, Rock CL, Pierce JP, Women’s Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) Study Group (2008) Reliability of plasma carotenoid biomarkers and its relation to study power. Epidemiology 19:338–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Hunter D (1998) Biochemical indicators of dietary intake. In: Willett W (ed) Nutritional epidemiology, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 174–243

  22. Tcherkas YV, Kartsova LA, Krasnova IN (2001) Analysis of amino acids in human serum by isocratic reversed-phase high-performance lipid chromatography with electrochemical detection. J Chromatogr A 913:303–308

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. McNamara JR, Huang C, Massov T, Leary ET, Warnick GR et al (1994) Modification of the dextran-Mg2 + high-density lipoprotein cholesterol precipitation method for use with previously frozen plasma. Clin Chem 40:233–239

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Kimberly MM, Leary ET, Cole TG, Waymack PP (1999) Selection, validation, standardization, and performance of a designated comparison method for HDL-cholesterol for use in the cholesterol reference method laboratory network. Clin Chem 45:1803–1812

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Breslow N, Day NE (1980) Conditional logistic regression for matched sets. In: Davis W (ed) Statistical methods in cancer research vol 1 the analysis of case-control studies. IARC, Lyon, pp 248–279

    Google Scholar 

  26. Ito M (2004) The metabolic syndrome: pathophysiology, clinical relevance, and use of niacin. Ann Pharmacother 38:277–285

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Woodside J, McKinley MC, Young IS (2008) Saturated and trans fatty acids and coronary heart disease. Curr Atheroscler Rep 10:460–466

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Hu FB, Willett WC (2002) Optimal diets for prevention of coronary heart disease. JAMA 288:2569–2578

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Renaud S, Lanzmann-Petithoty D (2001) Coronary heart disease: dietary links and pathogenesis. Public Health Nutr 4:459–474

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Meyers D (1996) The iron hypothesis—does iron cause atherosclerosis? Clin Cardiol 19:925–929

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Willett WC (1998) Nutritional epidemiology. Oxford University Press, New York, p 514

    Book  Google Scholar 

  32. Finnegan D (2003) The health effects of stimulant drinks. Br Nutr Found Nutr Bull 28:147–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Schuller-Levis GB, Park E (2003) Taurine: new implications for an old amino acid. FEMS Microbiol Lett 226:195–202

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Holvoet P, Harris TB, Tracy RP, Verhamme P, Newman AB et al (2003) Association of high coronary heart disease risk status with circulating oxidized LDL in the well-functioning elderly: findings from the health, aging, and body composition study. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 23:1444–1448

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Wu T, Willett WC, Rifai N, Shai I, Manson JE, Rimm EB (2006) Is plasma oxidized low-density lipoprotein, measured with the widely used antibody 4E6, an independent predictor of coronary heart disease among US men and women? J Am Coll Cardiol 48:973–979

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Tan B, Jiang D, Huang H, Jia J, Jiang JL, Hu C, Li Y (2007) Taurine protects against low-density lipoprotein-induced endothelial dysfunction by the DDAH/ADMA pathway. Vasc Pharmacol 46:338–345

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Matsushima Y, Sekine T, Kondo T, Kameo K, Tachibana M, Murakami S (2003) Effects of taurine on serum cholesterol levels and development of atherosclerosis in spontaneously hyperlipidaemic mice. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol 30:295–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Laidlaw SA, Grosvenor M, Kopple JD (1990) The taurine content of common foodstuffs. J Parenter Enteral Nutr 14:183–188

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Pasantes-Morales H, Quesada O, Alcocer L, Sánchez Olea R (1989) Taurine content in foods. Nutr Rep Int 40:793–801

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Lourenço R, Camilo ME (2002) Taurine: a conditionally essential amino acid in humans? An overview in health and disease. Nutr Hosp 17:262–270

    Google Scholar 

  41. Kim ES, Kim KJ, Yim MH, Joeng Y, Ko YS, Watanabe T, Nakatsuka H, Nakatsuka S, Matsuda-Inoguchi N, Shimbo S, Ikeda M (2003) Dietary taurine intake and serum taurine levels of women on Jeju Island. Adv Exp Med Biol 526:277–283

    Google Scholar 

  42. Elizarova E, Nedosugova LV (1996) First experiments in taurine administration for diabetes mellitus—the effect of erythrocyte membranes. Adv Exp Med Biol 403:583–588

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Koenig K, Toniolo P, Bruning P, Bonfrer J, Shore R, Pasternack B (1993) Reliability of serum prolactin measurements in women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarker Prev 2:411–414

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Martin L, Leff M, Calonge N, Garrett C, Nelson DE (2000) Validation of self-reported chronic conditions and health services in managed care populations. Am J Prev Med 18:215–218

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Okura Y, Urban LH, Mahoney DW, Jacobsen SJ, Rodeheffer RJ (2004) Agreement between self-report questionnaires and medical record data was substantial for diabetes, hypertension, myocardial infarction and stroke but not for heart failure. J Clin Epidemiol 57:1093–1103

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by U.S. grants: NIH grants ES000260, CA16087, CA098661 and American Heart Association grant 0835569D. The authors thank Mr. Alan Bowers and Mrs. Yelena Afanasyeva for their involvement in the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, 650 First Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY, 10016-3240, USA

    Oktawia P. Wójcik, Karen L. Koenig, Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte & Max Costa

  2. New York University Cancer Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, Max Costa & Yu Chen

  3. Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Camille Pearte

  4. Department of Pharmacology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Max Costa

  5. Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, 650 First Avenue, 5th Floor, Room 510, New York, NY, 10016-3240, USA

    Yu Chen

Authors
  1. Oktawia P. Wójcik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Karen L. Koenig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Camille Pearte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Max Costa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Yu Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yu Chen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wójcik, O.P., Koenig, K.L., Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, A. et al. Serum taurine and risk of coronary heart disease: a prospective, nested case–control study. Eur J Nutr 52, 169–178 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-011-0300-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-011-0300-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation