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Review
. 2024 Jan;19(1):62-68.
doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.374139.

Emergence of taurine as a therapeutic agent for neurological disorders

Ashok Jangra  1 , Priyanka Gola  1 , Jiten Singh  1 , Pooja Gond  1 , Swarnabha Ghosh  1 , Mahesh Rachamalla  2 , Abhijit Dey  3 , Danish Iqbal  4 , Mehnaz Kamal  5 , Punya Sachdeva  6 , Saurabh Kumar Jha  7 , Shreesh Ojha  8 , Dinesh Kumar  1 , Niraj Kumar Jha  9 , Hitesh Chopra  10 , Shing Cheng Tan  11
Affiliations
Review

Emergence of taurine as a therapeutic agent for neurological disorders

Ashok Jangra et al. Neural Regen Res. 2024 Jan.

Abstract

Taurine is a sulfur-containing, semi-essential amino acid that occurs naturally in the body. It alternates between inflammation and oxidative stress-mediated injury in various disease models. As part of its limiting functions, taurine also modulates endoplasmic reticulum stress, Ca2+ homeostasis, and neuronal activity at the molecular level. Taurine effectively protects against a number of neurological disorders, including stroke, epilepsy, cerebral ischemia, memory dysfunction, and spinal cord injury. Although various therapies are available, effective management of these disorders remains a global challenge. Approximately 30 million people are affected worldwide. The design of taurine formation could lead to potential drugs/supplements for the health maintenance and treatment of central nervous system disorders. The general neuroprotective effects of taurine and the various possible underlying mechanisms are discussed in this review. This article is a good resource for understanding the general effects of taurine on various diseases. Given the strong evidence for the neuropharmacological efficacy of taurine in various experimental paradigms, it is concluded that this molecule should be considered and further investigated as a potential candidate for neurotherapeutics, with emphasis on mechanism and clinical studies to determine efficacy.

Keywords: antioxidant; epilepsy; neurodegenerative disorders; neuroprotection; oxidative stress; spinal cord injury; taurine; γ-amino butyric acid.

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Conflict of interest statement

None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structure and a molecular formula of taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid). Created with BioRender.com.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pharmacological effects of taurine in various diseases including, neurological disorders, ophthalmic disease, renal disease, cancers, metabolic diseases such as mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, stroke-like episodes (MELAS), and diabetic neuropathy. Created with BioRender.com. AD: Alzheimer’s disease; PD: Parkinson’s disease.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic representation of general neuroprotective mechanisms of taurine. Created with BioRender.com. AD: Alzheimer’s disease; Aβ: amyloid beta; GABA-A: γ-aminobutyric acid type A; MPTP: 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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