Written by Jessica Patella, ND. Research showed that women with higher blood levels of taurine resulted in a 45-60% reduction in the risk for hypertension.
Heart disease is leading killer of women in the United States (1). The most common cause of heart disease is narrowing or blockage of the arteries which can lead to heart attack or stroke (1). The good news is a healthy lifestyle and dietary factors can prevent heart disease (1, 2).
Taurine is a sulfur-containing molecule that mainly comes from foods such as fish and poultry (1). Previous studies have shown that taurine is involved in cholesterol and blood pressure regulation (3). The recent research included 446 women from the 20-year New York University Women’s Healthy Study to evaluate the association between taurine levels in the blood and the risk of heart disease (2).
The research was a case-controlled study, meaning 223 women with heart disease were matched with a control group of 223 women without heart disease. The women were matched based on age and menopausal status. At baseline, the average age was 58 years and the average age of a heart attack in the experimental group was 70 years.
Compared to the control group, participants with heart disease had higher body mass indices (BMI), a family history of heart attacks, high blood pressure, higher total cholesterol levels and lower HDL cholesterol levels (p<0.05).
There was a significant inverse relationship between taurine levels and heart disease among women with high total cholesterol (>250 mg/dL; OR=0.39; p=0.02). Meaning women with high total cholesterol that also had high levels of taurine were less likely to develop heart disease. There was no association seen in women with low cholesterol (2).
Serum taurine was significantly lower in women who developed high blood pressure (123.0 nmol/L) compared with women that did not (130.2 nmol/mL; p=0.04) (2). Overall, women with higher blood levels of taurine (>130.1 nmol/L) resulted in a 45-60% reduction in the risk for hypertension (2).
Serum taurine was also lower in women who developed diabetes (118.5 nmol/mL) compared to those who did not (127.5 nmol/L; p=0.07), although, this correlation did not reach statistical significance.
In conclusion, there is an inverse relationship between low blood taurine levels and high total cholesterol and high blood pressure. There is also a possible inverse relationship between low blood taurine levels and diabetes.
Source: Wójcik, Oktawia P., et al. “Serum taurine and risk of coronary heart disease: a prospective, nested case–control study.” European journal of nutrition 52.1 (2013): 169-178.
© Springer-Verlag 2012
Posted April 9, 2012.
References:
- Heart Disease in Women. Medline Plus.
- Oktawia P, et al. Serum taurine and risk of coronary heart disease: A prospective, nested case-control study. 2012. Eur J Nutr. Doi 10.1007/s00394-011-0300-6.
- Huxtable RJ (1992) Physiological actions of taurine. Physiol Rev 72:101–163.
