Oral taurine supplementation prevents the development of ethanol-induced hypertension in rats

Taurine is known to lower blood pressure in essential hypertension and some experimental hypertensive models, Taurine has also been reported to activa te aldehyde dehydrogenase and to inhibit the elevation of plasma acetaldehy de concentration after ethanol intake. Because acetaldehyde, the first meta bolite of ethanol, is suspected to be responsible for many adverse effects of alcohol consumption, we examined the effect of taurine supplementation o n ethanol-induced hypertension and abnormalities in the intracellular catio n metabolism in Witar-Kyoto rats, In Study 1, systolic blood pressure and i ntrapratelet free calcium were significantly higher in rats who received 15 % ethanol in drinking water than in control rats, Oral taurine supplementat ion (1% taurine and 15% ethanol in drinking water) completely prevented the development of ethanol-induced hypertension. lntraerythrocyte sodium and i ntraplatelet free calcium were significantly decreased in taurine-supplemen ted rats as compared with rats who received 15% ethanol only, In Study 2, h emoglobin-associated acetaldehyde (HbAA) was measured as a marker of protei n-bound acetaldehyde, HbAA was significantly elevated in rats who received 5% ethanol in drinking water as compared with control rats. Taurine supplem entation (1% taurine and 5% ethanol in drinking water) significantly decrea sed HbAA. Our findings suggest that the oral supplementation of taurine pre vents ethanol-induced hypertension by decreasing protein bound acetaldehyde and altering the cation handling by the membrane.