Taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) is a free amino acid found abundantly in mammalian tissues. Increasing evidence suggests that taurine plays a role in the maintenance of skeletal muscle function and increase of exercise capacity. Most energy drinks contain this amino acid; however, there is insufficient research on the effects of long-term, low-dose supplementation of taurine. In this study, we investigated the effects of long-term administration of taurine at low doses on aging in rodents. In Experiment 1, we examined age-related changes in aging Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats (32–92 weeks old) that O₂ consumption and spontaneous activity decreased significantly with aging. In Experiment 2, we examined the effects of long-term (21-week) administration of taurine on healthy aging SD rats. SD rats were stabilized for 32–34 weeks and divided into three groups, administrated water (control), 0.5% taurine (25 mg/kg body weight (BW)/day), or 1% taurine (50 mg/kg BW/day) from age 34 to 56 weeks (5 days/week, 5 mL/kg BW). Our findings suggest that long-term administration of taurine at relatively low dose could attenuate the age-related decline in O₂ consumption and spontaneous locomotor activity. Upon intestinal absorption, taurine might modulate age-related changes in respiratory metabolism and skeletal muscle function via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), cytochrome c (Cycs), myocyte enhancer factor 2A (MEF2A), glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4), and myoglobin, which are regulated by the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). This article examines the mechanism underlying the effects of taurine on age-related changes, which may have potential clinical implications.

牛磺酸（2-氨基乙磺酸）是一种在哺乳动物组织中大量存在的游离氨基酸。越来越多的证据表明，牛磺酸在维持骨骼肌功能和增加运动能力方面发挥作用。大多数能量饮料都含有这种氨基酸；然而，关于长期、低剂量补充牛磺酸的影响的研究不足。在这项研究中，我们研究了长期服用低剂量牛磺酸对啮齿动物衰老的影响。在实验 1 中，我们检查了老化 Sprague-Dawley (SD) 大鼠（32-92 周龄）的年龄相关变化，O ₂随着年龄的增长，消耗和自发活动显着下降。在实验 2 中，我们检查了长期（21 周）牛磺酸给药对健康老龄化 SD 大鼠的影响。SD 大鼠稳定 32-34 周并分为三组，给予水（对照）、0.5% 牛磺酸（25 毫克/公斤体重（BW）/天）或 1% 牛磺酸（50 毫克/公斤体重/天） ) 34 至 56 周（5 天/周，5 mL/kg BW）。我们的研究结果表明，长期服用相对低剂量的牛磺酸可以减轻与年龄相关的 O ₂下降消耗和自发运动活动。肠道吸收后，牛磺酸可能通过过氧化物酶体增殖物激活受体 γ 共激活因子 1-α (PGC-1α)、琥珀酸脱氢酶 (SDH)、细胞色素c (Cycs)、肌细胞增强因子调节呼吸代谢和骨骼肌功能的年龄相关变化2A (MEF2A)、葡萄糖转运蛋白 4 (GLUT4) 和肌红蛋白，它们受 AMP 活化蛋白激酶 (AMPK) 的激活调节。本文研究了牛磺酸对年龄相关变化影响的潜在机制，这可能具有潜在的临床意义。