Taurine holds potential as new treatment for diabetes, suggests study

China: In diabetes patients, taurine supplementation improves glycemic indices, such as fasting blood sugar, HbA1c, and HOMA-IR, however, it has no significant impact on blood pressure, serum lipids, and body composition, a recent study has stated. 

The findings of the study, published in Food Chemistry: Molecular Sciences, imply that taurine is expected to be a new option for the management of diabetes patients but further studies are required to understand the potential effect of taurine in diabetic patients. 

In recent years, the ameliorative effect of taurine on diabetes has received extensive attention. However, there is no clarity on the e efficacy of taurine supplementation in human studies despite promising data from animal studies. Therefore, Xiaomei Tao, Key Laboratory of Cancer FSMP for State Market Regulation, Beijing, China, and colleagues performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to assess the effect of the taurine supplement on glycemic indices, and serum lipids, blood pressure, body composition in diabetes patients. 

For this purpose, the researcher systematically searched the online databases for randomized controlled trials (published from inception to January 15, 2022) about the effect of taurine supplementation on diabetes. Values of Standardized Mean Differences (SMD) were determined for continuous outcomes. 

"Our findings indicate that taurine supplement has a significant effect in reducing the FBS, HbA1c, and HOMA-IR of diabetes patients. However, the beneficial effects of taurine did not achieve statistical significance in Insulin, Weight, BMI, Energy Intake, Protein, Fat, Carbohydrate, Waist circumference, SBP, DBP, TG, TC, HDL, LDL," the researchers wrote in their study. 

"There is a need for more RCTs with longer duration and larger sample sizes to determine the effects of taurine on patients with diabetes and to better guide clinical practice," they concluded. 

Reference:

Tao, Xiaomei, et al. "The Effects of Taurine Supplementation On Diabetes Mellitus in Humans: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis." Food Chemistry. Molecular Sciences, vol. 4, 2022, p. 100106.