Dietary taurine attenuates dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced experimental colitis in mice.

Effects of dietary taurine on the experimental colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) were studied. C57BL/6 mice administrated taurine or placebo for 5 days were given 3% DSS to induce acute. The colitis was as-sessed using indices such as diarrhea/bleeding scores, colon length change, histological score and tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. Further, tissue mRNA levels of interleukin (IL)-1beta, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-2, were determined by real-time PCR. Taurine supplementation significantly attenuated the severity of diarrhea, colon shortening, histological score, MPO activity elevation and abnormal MIP-2 gene expression, indicating that taurine prevents DSS-induced colitis. Taurine also inhibited the TNF-alpha-induced secretion of IL-8 (a human homologue of MIP-2) from human intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells. Inhibition of chemokine secretion from intestinal cells may be involved in the mechanisms underlying the cytoprotective function of taurine in the intestinal epithelium.