Review Article
Treatment of hypertension with oral taurine: experimental and clinical studies
J. D. Militante1 and J. B. Lombardini1
| (1) |
Department of Pharmacology and, US |
| (2) |
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas, U.S.A., US |
Summary. Oral taurine treatment has been studied extensively as a hypotensive agent. Several rat models of hypertension have been
used to prove that dietary taurine supplementation can alleviate high blood pressure, among other cardiovascular problems.
Experimental models mentioned in this review are the spontaneously hypertensive rat, the DOCA-salt rat, the Dahl-S rat, the
renovascular hypertensive rat, the hyperinsulinemic rat and the ethanol-treated rat. The beneficial effects of taurine were
also demonstrated in studies involving human subjects suffering essential hypertension. Taurine supplementation of 6 g/day
for as little as 7 days resulted in measurable decreases in blood pressure in these patients. In both rat and human studies,
the effects of taurine appeared to be dependent on the modulation of an overactive sympathetic system. However, taurine has
positive effects on other types of cardiovascular problems and thus may act through more than one mechanism.
Keywords: Hypertension - Taurine supplementation - Experimental models - Modulation of overactive sympathetic system
Received January 8, 2002 Accepted January 18, 2002 Published online August 20, 2002
Acknowledgement The Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. of Tokyo, Japan, is thanked for their financial support to the senior author.
Authors' address: Dr. John B. Lombardini, Department of Pharmacology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, U.S.A., E-mail:
jbarry. lombardini@ttmc.ttuhsc.edu