Characterization of taurine as anti-obesity agent in C. elegans.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Taurine plays an important role in reducing physiological stress. Recent studies indicated that taurine may serve as an anti-obesity agent at the cellular level. This study characterizes taurine's potential anti-obesity function in C. elegans, which have become a popular in vivo model for understanding the regulatory basis of lipid biosynthesis and deposition.

METHODS:

Two strains of C. elegans were raised on a normal or high-fat diet: N2 (normal) and RB1600, a mutant in tub-1 that serves as a tubby homologue and functions parallel to the 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase gene (kat-1) in regulating lipid accumulation. Taurine's effect on lipid deposition was characterized according to assays of Sudan black B staining, triglyceride content measurement, food consumption, and mobility comparison.

RESULTS:

When N2 was treated with taurine after the culture in the high-fat media, the worms showed lower lipid accumulation in the assays of the Sudan black B staining and the triglyceride quantification. The anti-obesity effect was less evident in the experiment for RB1600. When the amount of taurine was increased for the high-fat-diet-treated N2 strain, fat deposition decreased and mobility increased in a dose-dependent manner. In the food consumption assays, taurine did not cause a significant change in food intake.

CONCLUSIONS:

Taken together, these results strongly imply that taurine plays an important role in reducing fat deposition by modulating cellular pathways for lipid accumulation and stimulating mobility, but not the pathways for lipid biosynthesis and food intake.

• Authors: Hye Min Kim, Chang-Hee Do, Dong Hee Lee
• Journal: Journal of biomedical science (J Biomed Sci) Vol. 17 Suppl 1 Pg. S33 (Aug 24 2010) ISSN: 1423-0127 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 20804609 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Anti-Obesity Agents
• Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
• Dietary Fats
• Lipids
• tub-1 protein, C elegans
• Taurine

Topics

• Animal Feed
• Animals
• Anti-Obesity Agents (pharmacology)
• Behavior, Animal (drug effects)
• Caenorhabditis elegans (drug effects, physiology)
• Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins (genetics, metabolism)
• Dietary Fats (metabolism)
• Eating (drug effects)
• Lipids (biosynthesis)
• Motor Activity (drug effects)
• Taurine (pharmacology)