Taurine supplementation attenuates delayed increase in exercise-induced arterial stiffness.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial
PubMed 27163699 · doi:10.1139/apnm-2015-0560
What was done
In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, 29 young, healthy men received either placebo (n = 14) or taurine (2.0 g three times daily, total 6.0 g/day; n = 15) for 14 days before exercise, on the day of exercise, and for 3 days post-exercise. Participants performed eccentric exercise consisting of two sets of 20 maximal-effort eccentric repetitions with their non-dominant arm. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA, a marker of oxidative stress) and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV, a marker of arterial stiffness) were assessed on the morning of exercise and daily for 4 days post-exercise.
What was found
On days 3 and 4 post-exercise, both serum MDA and cfPWV significantly increased in the placebo group, whereas these delayed elevations were significantly attenuated in the taurine group (absolute numerical values not provided in the abstract). In the placebo group, the increase in MDA correlated with the increase in cfPWV from baseline to 4 days post-exercise (r = 0.597, p < 0.05); this relationship was not observed in the taurine group.
Why it matters
The study suggests that delayed increases in arterial stiffness following acute eccentric exercise are linked to oxidative stress and can be mitigated by short-term oral taurine supplementation.
Limits
The sample size was small (n = 29) and limited exclusively to young, healthy men performing isolated arm exercise. The abstract does not report baseline values, absolute effect sizes, or confidence intervals for either MDA or cfPWV. Generalizability to whole-body exercise, females, older adults, or clinical populations remains untested.
Cited by
- context No clinical trial has ever imaged human arterial plaque in response to taurine supplementation.