Abstract

Effect of dietary taurine and arginine supplementation on bone mineral density in growing female rats.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of arginine or -taurine alone and taurine plus arginine on bone mineral density (BMD) and markers of bone formation and bone resorption in growing female rats. Forty female SD rats (75 ± 5 g) were randomly divided into four groups (control, taurine, arginine, taurine + arginine group) and treatment lasted for 9 weeks. All rats were fed on a diet and deionized water. BMD and bone mineral content (BMC) were measured using PIXImus (GE Lunar Co, Wisconsin, USA) in spine and femur. The serum and urine concentrations of calcium and phosphorus were determined. Bone formation was measured by serum osteocalcin and alkaline phosphatase concentrations, and the bone resorption rate was measured by deoxypyridinoline cross-links. Femur BMD was significantly increased in the group with taurine supplementation and femur BMC/weight was significantly increased in the group with arginine + taurine supplementation. Rats fed an arginine or taurine supplemental diet increased femur BMD or femur BMC, but a taurine + arginine-supplemented diet does not have a better effect than arginine or taurine alone in the spine BMD. The femur BMC, expressed per body weight, was higher in arginine + taurine group than in the taurine or arginine group. The results of this study suggest that taurine + arginine supplementation may be beneficial on femur BMC in growing female rats. Additional work is needed to clarify the interactive effects between the taurine and arginine to determine whether dietary intakes of arginine and taurine affect bone quality in growing rats.

Choi MJ, Chang KJ
Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 2013
PMID: 23392895