Taurine-Diabetes Interaction: From Involvement to Protection

Diabetes is a complex nature. To alleviate this, nutritional intervention provides much scope and hope, and taurine has been placed under this category successfully. An adult human weighing 70 kg contains about 70 g taurine. Taurine in diabetes has an age old story; taurine is involved in the development and protection of insulin apparatus. Taurine and insulin both have mutual stimulating actions with hypoglycemic properties. On the clinical front, taurine supplementation has acceptable beneficial effect in platelet aggregation and to name a few more, in neuropathy, cardiomyopathy, nephropathy and retinopathy. Recent studies have provided a role for taurine in fetal development and also in blocking the transfer of diabetes from diabetic mother to offspring. A number of mechanisms for taurine's actions have been advocated, from osmoregulation to anti-oxidation. Though sulfonylurea and recently introduced thiazolidinediones are effective, they are also not free from complications, thus needs to design new therapeutics. As taurine is also a sulfonyl derivative and it will be of great interest to develop taurine analogues as an alternative therapy. Considering the great involvement of taurine in diabetes, this review may provide a holistic view of taurine in diabetes and in its prevention, in this century.