A3278 Taurine supplementation improves vascular function in prehypertension

Abstract

Objectives: Taurine is well known to lower blood pressure (BP) in hypertensive animal models. However, no rigorous clinical trial has validated whether this beneficial effect of taurine can be used to treat prehypertension in human, a key stage in the development of hypertension. Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we assessed the effects of taurine intervention on BP and vascular function in prehypertension. We randomly assigned 120 eligible prehypertensive participants to receive either taurine supplementation (1.6 g per day) or a placebo for 12 weeks. Results: Taurine significantly decreased the clinic and 24-h ambulatory BPs, especially in those high-normal BP participants. Furthermore, pulse wave velocity (PWV, > 1400 cm/s) was positive correlated with both systolic BP and mean ambulatory systolic BP before taurine treatment in participants. After taurine treatment for 12 weeks, the correlation between PWV and systolic BP disappeared in these participants. In addition, PWV were positive correlated with both the Intima media thick and number of plaques in participants before taurine treatment, however this correlation was not found after taurine treatment. Changes in BP were negatively correlated with both the plasma H2S and taurine levels in taurine-treated participants. PWV was also negatively correlated with the ratio of abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue / visceral adipose tissue and plasma H2S in these participants. After taurine treatment, abdominal obesity and plasma H2S were improved compared with before in prehypertensive participants. Conclusion: The antihypertensive effect of taurine supplementation shows promise in the improvement of BP and vascular function in prehypertensive participants, which is associated with increasing plasma H2S.