Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
NO
Nitric oxide
Con
Control group
Tau
Taurine group
b -Ala
b -Alanine group
EL
Erection latency
ERF
Erection frequency
ML
Mount latency
MF
Mount frequency
IF
Intromission frequency
EJF
Ejaculation frequency
GnRH
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone
FSH
Follicle-stimulating hormone
E2
Estradiol
LH
Luteinizing hormone
TP
Total protein
32.1
Introduction
Taurine (2-aminoethane sulfonic acid), one of the most abundant amino acids in
mammalian plasma and tissues, has been demonstrated to be a potentially nutrition-
ally important amino acid, which involved in several physiological functions, such as
neurotransmitter or neuromodulator, bile formation in the liver, modulation of cal-
cium flow, osmoregulation, stabilization of membranes, and antiarrhythmic activity
in the heart (Huxtable
1992
). It has been demonstrated that taurine is synthesized in
the liver; however recent studies indicated that taurine might be biosynthesized in
other organs such as brain (Oertel et al.
1981
), retina (Pasantes-Morales et al.
1976
) ,
mammary gland (Hu et al.
2000
), and testis in mammals (Li et al.
2006
) . In male
reproductive organs, taurine immunoreactivity has been specifically localized in
Leydig cells, vascular endothelial cells, other interstitial cells of testis, peritubu-
lar myoid cells, and epithelial cells of the efferent ducts (Lobo et al.
2000
) .
Taurine may act as an antioxidant in preventing rabbit sperm lipid peroxidation
(Alvarez and Storey
1983
), as a capacitating agent (Meizel et al.
1980
; Meizel
1985
), as a membrane-stabilized factor (Mrsny and Meizel
1985
) , and sperm
motility factor (Fraser
1986
). Furthermore, our research group found that taurine
supplement could stimulate the secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) and tes-
tosterone (T), increase the activity of testicular marker enzymes, elevate testicu-
lar antioxidation (including the levels of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and nitric
oxide (NO)), and improve sperm quality in male rats of different ages, especially
in aged rats (Yang et al.
2010a
) .
It is well known that aging results in a significant decline in sexual response and
function, which may be attributed to the androgen deficiency (Tenover
1997
;
Swerdloff and Wang
1993
), because androgens acting both centrally and peripher-
ally are essential for normal penile erection and T-stimulating nitric oxide synthesis
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