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Review
. 2024 Mar;19(3):606-610.
doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.380820.

Taurine: a promising nutraceutic in the prevention of retinal degeneration

Diego García-Ayuso  1 , Johnny Di Pierdomenico  1 , Ana Martínez-Vacas  1 , Manuel Vidal-Sanz  1 , Serge Picaud  2 , María P Villegas-Pérez  1
Affiliations
Review

Taurine: a promising nutraceutic in the prevention of retinal degeneration

Diego García-Ayuso et al. Neural Regen Res. 2024 Mar.

Abstract

Taurine is considered a non-essential amino acid because it is synthesized by most mammals. However, dietary intake of taurine may be necessary to achieve the physiological levels required for the development, maintenance, and function of certain tissues. Taurine may be especially important for the retina. The concentration of taurine in the retina is higher than that in any other tissue in the body and taurine deficiency causes retinal oxidative stress, apoptosis, and degeneration of photoreceptors and retinal ganglion cells. Low plasma taurine levels may also underlie retinal degeneration in humans and therefore, taurine administration could exert retinal neuroprotective effects. Taurine has antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, immunomodulatory, and calcium homeostasis-regulatory properties. This review summarizes the role of taurine in retinal health and disease, where it appears that taurine may be a promising nutraceutical.

Keywords: amino acid; anti-inflammatory; antioxidant; gamma-aminobutyric acid; nutraceutical; photoreceptor degeneration; retina; retinitis pigmentosa; taurine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structure of taurine, β-alanine, guanidoethane sulfonate, vigabatrin and gamma-aminobutyric acid. Created with https://molview.org/.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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