Effects of long-term treatment with taurine in mice fed a high-fat diet: improvement in cholesterol metabolism and vascular lipid accumulation by taurine.

Hypocholesterolemic effects of taurine in rats fed a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet are well established. However, there are few studies on long-term effects of taurine on cholesterol metabolism. In the present study, taurine was dissolved in drinking water and given to C57BL/6J mice during 6 months-feeding of a high fat diet. Taurine treatment significantly decreased serum LDL and VLDL cholesterol, while it significantly increased serum HDL cholesterol. In the liver, taurine decreased cholesteryl ester contents, accompanied by decrease in acyl CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) activity. Hepatic activity of cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase, a rate-limiting enzyme for bile acid synthesis, was doubled with taurine. Taurine reduced by 20% the high-fat diet-induced arterial lipid accumulation. Thus, taurine prevented elevation of serum and liver cholesterol levels, as possibly related to accelerated cholesterol elimination from the body through the stimulation of bile acid synthesis. Long-term treatment with taurine is beneficial for prevention of hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis.