Abstract
Purpose of Review
The aims of this meta-analysis were to investigate the effects of orally administered isolated taurine on resting systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in humans.
Recent Findings
There is growing evidence that taurine deficiency is associated with hypertension and that oral supplementation can have antihypertensive effects in humans. However, these investigations have been conducted across a number of decades and populations and have not been collectively reviewed. A search was performed using various databases in May 2018 and later screened using search criteria for eligibility. There were seven peer-reviewed studies meeting the inclusion criteria, encompassing 103 participants of varying age and health statuses. Taurine ingestion reduced SBP (Hedges’ g = − 0.70, 95% CI − 0.98 to − 0.41, P < 0.0001) and DBP (Hedges’ g = − 0.62, 95% CI − 0.91 to − 0.34, P < 0.0001). These results translated to mean ~ 3 mmHg reductions in both SBP (range = 0–15 mmHg) and DBP (range = 0–7 mmHg) following a range of doses (1 to 6 g/day) and supplementation periods (1 day to 12 weeks), with no adverse events reported.
Summary
These preliminary findings suggest that ingestion of taurine at the stated doses and supplementation periods can reduce blood pressure to a clinically relevant magnitude, without any adverse side effects. Future studies are needed to establish the effects of oral taurine supplementation on targeted pathologies and the optimal supplementation doses and periods.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance•• Of major Importance
WHO Raised blood pressure: situation and trends. Global Health Observatory. http://www.who.int/gho/ncd/risk_factors/blood_pressure_prevalence_text/en/ (accessed 04 May 2018).
Ezzati M, Lopez AD, Rodgers A, Vander Hoorn S, Murray CJL. Selected major risk factors and global and regional burden of disease. Lancet. 2002;360:1347–60.
Smith SC, Benjamin EJ, Bonow RO, et al. World Heart Federation and the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association. Circulation. 2011;124:2458–73.
Chobanian AV, Bakris GL, Black HR, et al. The seventh report of the joint national committee on prevention, detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure: the JNC VII report. JAMA. 2003;289:2560–72.
Cook NR, Cohen J, Hebert PR, Taylor JO, Hennekens CH. Implications of small reductions in diastolic blood pressure for primary prevention. Arch Intern Med. 1995;155:701–9.
Appel LJ, Brands MW, Daniels SR, Karanja N, Elmer PJ, Sacks FM, et al. Dietary approaches to prevent and treat hypertension: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Hypertension. 2006;47:296–308.
COLLABORATION BPLTT. Effects of different blood-pressure-lowering regimens on major cardiovascular events: results of prospectively-designed overviews of randomised trials. Lancet. 2003;362:1527–35.
Savica V, Bellinghieri G, Kopple JD. The effect of nutrition on blood pressure. Annu Rev Nutr. 2010;30:365–401.
Xu Y, Arneja AS, Tappia PS, Dhalla NS. The potential health benefits of taurine in cardiovascular disease. Exp Clin Cardiol. 2008;13:57–65.
Schaffer SW, Ito T, Azuma J. Clinical significance of taurine. Amino Acids. 2014;46:1–5.
Laidlaw SA, Grosvenor M, Kopple JD. The taurine content of common foodstuffs. Parenter Enter Nutr. 1990;14:183–8.
Huxtable JR. Physiological actions of taurine. Physiol Rev. 1992;72:101–63.
Satoh H, Sperelakis N. Review of some actions of taurine on ion channels of cardiac muscle cells and others. Gen Pharmacol. 1998;30:451–63.
Liao XB, Zhou XM, Li JM, Tan ZP, Liu LM, Zhang W, et al. Taurine transporter is expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells. Amino Acids. 2007;33:639–43.
Ulusoy KG, Kaya E, Karabacak K, Seyrek M, Duvan İ, Yildirim V, et al. Taurine relaxes human radial artery through potassium channel opening action. Korean J Physiol Pharmacol. 2017;21:617–23.
Yoshioka M, Takasugi Y, Koga Y. Central hypotensive effect involving neurotransmitters of long-term administration of taurine to stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat. Masui. 2007;56:139–47.
Ito T, Schaffer S, Azuma J. The effect of taurine on chronic heart failure: actions of taurine against catecholamine and angiotensin II. Amino Acids. 2014;46:111–9.
•• Sagara M, Murakami S, Mizushima S, et al. Taurine in 24-h urine samples is inversely related to cardiovascular risks of middle aged subjects in 50 populations of the world. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2015;803:623–36. This multi-centre, cross-sectional study of > 4,000 patients demonstrated an inverse relationship between 24-h urinary taurine/creatinine ratios and both hypertension and obesity, highlighting the links between taurine deficiency and cardiovascular disease risk.
Moher D, Shamseer L, Clarke M, et al. Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. Syst Rev. 2015;4:1.
Higgins JP, Altman DG. Assessing risk of bias in included studies. In: Higgins JP, Green S, editors. Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions: cochrane book series. Chichester: Wiley; 2008.
Lipsey MW, Wilson DB. Practical meta-analysis. London: Sage; 2001.
Rosenthal R, Rosnow RL. Essentials of behavioral research: methods and data analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1984.
Satoh H, Kang J. Modulation by taurine of human arterial stiffness and wave reflection. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2009;643:47–55.
Mizushima S, Nara Y, Sawamura M, et al. Effects of oral taurine supplementation on lipids and sympathetic nerve tone. Adv Exp Med Biol. 1996;403:615–22.
Ahmadian M, Roshan VD, Ashourpore E. Taurine supplementation improves functional capacity, myocardial oxygen consumption, and electrical activity in heart failure. J Diet Suppl. 2017;14:422–32.
Beyranvand MR, Khalafi MK, Roshan VD, Choobineh S, Parsa SA, Piranfar MA. Effect of taurine supplementation on exercise capacity of patients with heart failure. J Cardiol. 2011;57:333–7.
Fujita T, Ando K, Noda H, Ito Y, Sato Y. Effects of increased adrenomedullary activity and taurine in young patients with borderline hypertension. Circulation. 1987;75:525–32.
Warnock R, Jeffries O, Patterson S, Waldron M. The effects of caffeine, taurine or caffeine-taurine co-ingestion on repeat-sprint cycling performance and physiological responses. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2017;24:1–24.
Schwarzer R, Kivaranovic D, Mandorfer M. Randomised clinical study: the effects of oral taurine 6g/day vs placebo on portal hypertension. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2018;47:86–94.
• Sun Q, Wang B, Li Y, et al. Taurine supplementation lowers blood pressure and improves vascular function in prehypertension: randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Hypertension. 2016;67:541–9. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study demonstrated that oral taurine supplementation lowered blood pressure in a large cohort ( n = 120) of pre-hypertensive participants and provided the first mechanistic understanding of taurine’s effects on the vasculature.
Moloney MA, Casey RG, O'Donnell DH, Fitzgerald P, Thompson C, Bouchier-Hayes DJ. Two weeks taurine supplementation reverses endothelial dysfunction in young male type 1 diabetics. Diab Vasc Dis Res. 2010;7:300–10.
Siervo M, Lara J, Ogbonmwan I, Mathers JC. Inorganic nitrate and beetroot juice supplementation reduces blood pressure in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Nutr. 2013;143:818–26.
Zhao D, Liu H, Dong P. A meta-analysis of antihypertensive effect of telmisartan versus candesartan in patients with essential hypertension. Clin Exp Hypertens. 2018;28:1–5.
Liang W, Ma H, Cao L, Yan W, Yang J. Comparison of thiazide-like diuretics versus thiazide-type diuretics: a meta-analysis. J Cell Mol Med. 2017;21:2634–42.
Peck RN, Smart LR, Beier R, Liwa AC, Grosskurth H, Fitzgerald DW, et al. Difference in blood pressure response to ACE-inhibitor monotherapy between black and white adults with arterial hypertension: a meta-analysis of 13 clinical trials. BMC Nephrol. 2013;14:201.
Shao A, Hathcock JN. Risk assessment for the amino acids taurine, L-glutamine and Larginine. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2008;50:376–99.
Ristori MT, Verdetti J. Effects of taurine on rat aorta in vitro. Fundam Clin Pharmacol. 1991;5:245–58.
Niu LG, Zhang MS, Liu Y, Xue WX, Liu DB, Zhang J, et al. Vasorelaxant effect of taurine is diminished by tetraethylammonium in rat isolated arteries. Eur J Pharmacol. 2008;580:169–74.
Nishida S, Satoh H. Vascular modulation of rat aorta by taurine. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2009;643:37–46.
Liu Y, Niu L, Zhang W, Cui L, Zhang X, Liang Y, et al. Effect of taurine on contractions of the porcine coronary artery. Pharmacol Rep. 2009;61:681–9.
Fanconi F, Giotti A, Manzini S, et al. The effect of taurine on high potassium- and noradrenaline-induced contraction in rabbit ear artery. Br J Pharmacol. 1982;75:605–12.
Fujita T, Sato Y. The antihypertensive effect of taurine in DOCA-salt rats. J Hypertens Suppl. 1984;2:S563–5.
Hano T, Kasano M, Tomari H, et al. Taurine suppresses pressor response through the inhibition of sympathetic nerve activity and the improvement in baro-reflex sensitivity of spontaneously hypertensive rats. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2009;643:57–63.
Tian XY, Wong WT, Sayed N, Luo J, Tsang SY, Bian ZX, et al. NaHS relaxes rat cerebral artery in vitro via inhibition of l-type voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channel. Pharmacol Res. 2012;65:239–46.
Li C, Cao L, Zeng Q, Liu X, Zhang Y, Dai T, et al. Taurine may prevent diabetic rats from developing cardiomyopathy also by downregulating angiotensin II type 2 receptor expression. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther. 2005;19:105–12.
Jeevanandam M, Young DH, Ramias L, Schiller WR. Effect of major trauma on plasma free amino acid concentrations in geriatric patients. Am J Clin Nutr. 1990;51:1040–5.
Sole MJ, Jeejeebhoy KN. Conditioned nutritional requirements and the pathogenesis and treatment of myocardial failure. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2000;3:417–24.
Franconi F, Bennardini F, Mattana A, Miceli M, Ciuti M, Mian M, et al. Plasma and platelet taurine are reduced in subjects with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: effects of taurine supplementation. Am J Clin Nutr. 1995;61:1115–9.
Henriksson J. Effect of exercise on amino acid concentrations in skeletal muscle and plasma. J Exp Biol. 1991;160:149–65.
Souza DB, Del Coso J, Casonatto J, et al. Acute effects of caffeine-containing energy drinks on physical performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Nutr. 2017;56:13–27.
Waldron M, Patterson SD, Tallent J, Jeffries O. The effects of an oral taurine dose and supplementation period on endurance exercise performance in humans: a meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2018;48:1247–53.
Waldron M, Knight F, Tallent J, Patterson S, Jeffries O. The effects of taurine on repeat sprint cycling after low or high cadence exhaustive exercise in females. Amino Acids. 2018;50:663–9.
Baum M, Weiss M. The influence of a taurine containing drink on cardiac parameters before and after exercise measured by echocardiography. Amino Acids. 2001;20:75–82.
Galloway SD, Talanian JL, Shoveller AK, et al. Seven days of oral taurine supplementation does not increase muscle taurine content or alter substrate metabolism during prolonged exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2008;105:643–51.
Ong KL, Cheung BMY, Man YB, Lau CP, Lam KSL. Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension among United States adults 1999–2004. Hypertension. 2007;49:69–75.
Nara Y, Zhao GS, Huang ZD, et al. Relationship between dietary factors and blood pressure in China. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 1990;16(Suppl. 8):S40–2.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest relevant to this manuscript.
Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent
This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Antihypertensive Agents: Mechanisms of Drug Action
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Waldron, M., Patterson, S.D., Tallent, J. et al. The Effects of Oral Taurine on Resting Blood Pressure in Humans: a Meta-Analysis. Curr Hypertens Rep 20, 81 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-018-0881-z
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-018-0881-z