Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Caffeine and taurine containing energy drink increases left ventricular contractility in healthy volunteers

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To investigate the impact of a caffeine and taurine containing energy drink (ED) on myocardial contractility in healthy volunteers using cardiac MR and cardiac MR based strain analysis. 32 healthy volunteers (mean age 28 years) were investigated before and 1 h after consumption of a caffeine and taurine containing ED. For assessment of global cardiac functional parameters balanced SSFP-Cine imaging was performed, whereas CSPAMM tagging was used to evaluate global and regional myocardial strain. In addition, ten randomly chosen subjects were investigated once more using a caffeine only protocol to further evaluate the effect of caffeine solely. Heart rate and blood pressure were recorded throughout all studies. ED consumption led to a significant increase in peak systolic strain (PSS) and peak systolic strain rate (PSSR) 1 h after consumption (PSS: w/o ED −22.8 ± 2.1 %; w ED −24.3 ± 2.4 %, P = <0.0001 and PSSR: w/o ED −1.2 ± 0.1 1/s; w ED −1.3 ± 0.2 1/s, P = 0.0056), which was not observed in the caffeine only group. In contrast, global left ventricular function was unchanged (P = 0.2076). No significant changes of vital parameters and diastolic filling pattern were detected 1 h after ED consumption. Consumption of a caffeine and taurine containing ED results in a subtle, but significant increase of myocardial contractility 1 h after consumption.

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

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Alford C, Cox H, Wescott R (2001) The effects of red bull energy drink on human performance and mood. Amino Acids 21(2):139–150

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Del Coso J, Munoz-Fernandez VE, Munoz G, Fernandez-Elias VE, Ortega JF, Hamouti N, Barbero JC, Munoz-Guerra J (2012) Effects of a caffeine-containing energy drink on simulated soccer performance. PLoS One 7(2):e31380. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031380

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Pincomb GA, Lovallo WR, Passey RB, Whitsett TL, Silverstein SM, Wilson MF (1985) Effects of caffeine on vascular resistance, cardiac output and myocardial contractility in young men. Am J Cardiol 56(1):119–122

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Whitsett TL, Manion CV, Christensen HD (1984) Cardiovascular effects of coffee and caffeine. Am J Cardiol 53(7):918–922

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Huxtable RJ (1987) From heart to hypothesis: a mechanism for the calcium modulatory actions of taurine. Adv Exp Med Biol 217:371

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Huxtable RJ (1992) Physiological actions of taurine. Physiol Rev 72(1):101–163

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Schaffer SW, Jong CJ, Ramila KC, Azuma J (2010) Physiological roles of taurine in heart and muscle. J Biomed Sci 17(Suppl. 1):S2. doi:10.1186/1423-0127-17-S1-S2

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Ito T, Kimura Y, Uozumi Y, Takai M, Muraoka S, Matsuda T, Ueki K, Yoshiyama M, Ikawa M, Okabe M, Schaffer SW, Fujio Y, Azuma J (2008) Taurine depletion caused by knocking out the taurine transporter gene leads to cardiomyopathy with cardiac atrophy. J Mol Cell Cardiol 44(5):927–937. doi:10.1016/j.yjmcc.2008.03.001

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Ito T, Oishi S, Takai M, Kimura Y, Uozumi Y, Fujio Y, Schaffer SW, Azuma J (2010) Cardiac and skeletal muscle abnormality in taurine transporter-knockout mice. J Biomed Sci 17(Suppl. 1):S20. doi:10.1186/1423-0127-17-S1-S20

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Gotte MJ, Germans T, Russel IK, Zwanenburg JJ, Marcus JT, van Rossum AC, van Veldhuisen DJ (2006) Myocardial strain and torsion quantified by cardiovascular magnetic resonance tissue tagging: studies in normal and impaired left ventricular function. J Am Coll Cardiol 48(10):2002–2011. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2006.07.048

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Du Bois D, Du Bois EF (1989) A formula to estimate the approximate surface area if height and weight be known. 1916. Nutrition 5 (5):303–311; (discussion 312–303)

  12. Paelinck BP, Lamb HJ, Bax JJ, Van der Wall EE, de Roos A (2002) Assessment of diastolic function by cardiovascular magnetic resonance. Am Heart J 144(2):198–205

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Osman NF, Kerwin WS, McVeigh ER, Prince JL (1999) Cardiac motion tracking using CINE harmonic phase (HARP) magnetic resonance imaging. Magn Reson Med 42(6):1048–1060

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Donekal S, Ambale-Venkatesh B, Berkowitz S, Wu CO, Choi EY, Fernandes V, Yan R, Harouni AA, Bluemke DA, Lima JA (2013) Inter-study reproducibility of cardiovascular magnetic resonance tagging. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 15(1):37. doi:10.1186/1532-429X-15-37

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Azevedo CF, Amado LC, Kraitchman DL, Gerber BL, Osman NF, Rochitte CE, Edvardsen T, Lima JA (2004) Persistent diastolic dysfunction despite complete systolic functional recovery after reperfused acute myocardial infarction demonstrated by tagged magnetic resonance imaging. Eur Heart J 25(16):1419–1427. doi:10.1016/j.ehj.2004.06.024

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Sengupta PP, Tajik AJ, Chandrasekaran K, Khandheria BK (2008) Twist mechanics of the left ventricle: principles and application. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging 1(3):366–376. doi:10.1016/j.jcmg.2008.02.006

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Russel IK, Gotte MJ, Bronzwaer JG, Knaapen P, Paulus WJ, van Rossum AC (2009) Left ventricular torsion: an expanding role in the analysis of myocardial dysfunction. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging 2(5):648–655. doi:10.1016/j.jcmg.2009.03.001

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Giacomin E, Palmerini E, Ballo P, Zaca V, Bova G, Mondillo S (2008) Acute effects of caffeine and cigarette smoking on ventricular long-axis function in healthy subjects. Cardiovasc Ultrasound 6:9. doi:10.1186/1476-7120-6-9

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Leite-Moreira AF, Correia-Pinto J, Gillebert TC (1999) Load dependence of left ventricular contraction and relaxation. Effects of caffeine. Basic Res Cardiol 94(4):284–293

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Riksen NP, Smits P, Rongen GA (2011) The cardiovascular effects of methylxanthines. Handb Exp Pharmacol 200:413–437. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-13443-2_16

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Baum M, Weiss M (2001) The influence of a taurine containing drink on cardiac parameters before and after exercise measured by echocardiography. Amino Acids 20(1):75–82

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Depre C, Vanoverschelde JL, Taegtmeyer H (1999) Glucose for the heart. Circulation 99(4):578–588

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Klein LJ, Visser FC (2010) The effect of insulin on the heart: part 1: effects on metabolism and function. Neth Heart J 18(4):197–201

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Bichler A, Swenson A, Harris MA (2006) A combination of caffeine and taurine has no effect on short term memory but induces changes in heart rate and mean arterial blood pressure. Amino Acids 31(4):471–476. doi:10.1007/s00726-005-0302-x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Grasser EK, Yepuri G, Dulloo AG, Montani JP (2014) Cardio- and cerebrovascular responses to the energy drink Red Bull in young adults: a randomized cross-over study. Eur J Nutr. doi:10.1007/s00394-014-0661-8

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Lawton JS, Cupps BP, Knutsen AK, Ma N, Brady BD, Reynolds LM, Pasque MK (2011) Magnetic resonance imaging detects significant sex differences in human myocardial strain. Biomed Eng Online 10:76. doi:10.1186/1475-925X-10-76

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Conflict of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127, Bonn, Germany

    Jonas M. Doerner, Daniel L. Kuetting, Julian A. Luetkens, Claas P. Naehle, Darius Dabir, Rami Homsi, Hans H. Schild & Daniel K. Thomas

  2. Department of Medical Biometry, Informatics, and Epidemiology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127, Bonn, Germany

    Jennifer Nadal

Authors
  1. Jonas M. Doerner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daniel L. Kuetting
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Julian A. Luetkens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Claas P. Naehle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Darius Dabir
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Rami Homsi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Jennifer Nadal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Hans H. Schild
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Daniel K. Thomas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel K. Thomas.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Doerner, J.M., Kuetting, D.L., Luetkens, J.A. et al. Caffeine and taurine containing energy drink increases left ventricular contractility in healthy volunteers. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 31, 595–601 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-014-0577-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-014-0577-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation