Perinatal taurine exerts a hypotensive effect in male spontaneously hypertensive rats and down‐regulates endothelial oxide nitric synthase in the aortic arch

Abstract

Essential hypertension is considered to be a result of the interaction between genetic and environmental factors, including perinatal factors. Different advantageous perinatal factors proved to have beneficial long‐lasting effects against an abnormal genetic background. Taurine is a ubiquitous sulphur‐containing amino acid present in foods such as seafood. The antihypertensive effects of taurine have been reported in experimental studies and in human hypertension. We aimed to investigate the effects of perinatal treatment with taurine in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), a known model of genetic hypertension. Female SHR were administered with taurine (3 g/L) during gestation and lactation (SHR‐TAU). Untreated SHR and Wistar‐Kyoto rats (WKY) were used as controls. Long‐lasting effects in offspring were investigated. Addition of taurine to the mother's drinking water reduced blood pressure in adult offspring. No differences were observed in cardiac hypertrophy. Findings on morphometric evaluations suggest that perinatal treatment with taurine would be partially effective in improving structural alterations of the aorta. Modifications in gene expression of Bcl‐2 family members and upregulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase in the aorta of 22‐week‐old male offspring were found. No differences were observed on relative telomere length in different cardiovascular tissues between SHR and SHR‐TAU. Altogether results suggest that taurine programming, albeit sex specific, is associated with gene expression changes which ultimately may lead to improvement of aortic remodelling and enhanced endothelial function because of augmented nitric oxide (NO) production.

The Consumption of Energy Drinks Induces Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Wild-Type Mice

“…Consistent with the latter, we confirmed that chronic ingestion of ED markedly reduced blood pressures, consistent with our previous findings ( 17 ). Whilst caffeine is widely recognized to raise blood pressure, taurine has marked acute and chronic hypotensive effects ( 35 – 37 ). Ishikawa et al showed that drug-induced hypotension in dogs resulted in BBB dysfunction ( 38 ).…”

Amino Acids during Pregnancy and Offspring Cardiovascular–Kidney–Metabolic Health

“…Reprogramming effects have been observed through amino-acid-targeted therapies in rats ranging from 4 weeks to 50 weeks old, coarsely equivalent to human ages spanning from young children to middle adulthood [139]. Amino acid supplementation utilized as reprogramming interventions includes arginine [116], citrulline [62,[117][118][119][120][121], taurine [122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129], cysteine [130][131][132][133][134], glycine [135], BCAAs [136,137], and tryptophan [138]. The subsequent sections will delve into each of these aspects in detail.…”

“…The table illustrates that maternal taurine supplementation provides protection against hypertension programmed by maternal high-sugar intake [124], maternal CKD [125], STZ-induced diabetes [126], or maternal dyslipidemia [127]. Furthermore, perinatal taurine supplementation has demonstrated efficacy in preventing hypertension in SHRs and stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) [128,129]. In addition, maternal taurine supplementation can ameliorate obesity programmed by a maternal high-fat/high-fructose diet [122] and maternal dyslipidemia [127].…”

Amino Acids and Developmental Origins of Hypertension

“…Conversely, certain amino acids can be used as reprogramming interventions to reverse the early-life insults induced by programmed processes and can consequently protect offspring against adverse outcomes. In the current review, we only focus on amino acid supplementation starting during pregnancy as a reprogramming strategy to prevent hypertension of developmental origin in rodent animal models, as listed in Table 2 [ 52 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 ]. This list is by no means complete and is likely to grow quickly, as the study of DOHaD-related disorders is a flourishing field.…”

“…Table 2 shows that combined use of taurine and arginine in the perinatal period causes a reduction of BP in SHRs as well as in FHH rats [ 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 ]. Perinatal taurine supplementation alone has also been shown to prevent hypertension in SHRs and stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) [ 94 , 95 ]. Additionally, maternal taurine supplementation protects adult offspring against hypertension programmed by maternal high-sugar intake or diabetes [ 92 , 93 ].…”