Improving effect of dietary taurine on marked hypercholesterolemia induced by a high-cholesterol diet in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

The effect of dietary taurine on hypercholesterolemia induced by a high-cholesterol diet in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats was investigated. The concentrations of serum and liver cholesterol were markedly elevated in STZ-diabetic rats fed on the cholesterol-containing diet, and dietary taurine significantly reduced this elevated level of cholesterol in the serum and liver. The gene expression of cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1), which is the rate-limiting enzyme for cholesterol degradation, was induced by the supplementation of taurine to the high-cholesterol diet. It is suggested that one of the reasons for this hypocholesterolemic action by taurine might have been the enhancement of cholesterol degradation.