Taurine treatment reverses protein malnutrition-induced endothelial dysfunction of the pancreatic vasculature: the role of hydrogen sulfide
Daniele M. Guizoni Metab January 05, 2021
• Malnutrition impairs pancreatic and mesenteric arteries relaxation by distinct ways
• Taurine treatment rescue heterogeneous vessel-type endothelial dysfunction
• Taurine-induced pancreas vascular CBS-H 2S is accompanied by increased insulin secretion in malnourished mice
• Vasculometabolic benefit supports taurine as a therapeutic strategy in malnutrition
Background
Protein malnutrition in childhood predisposes individuals to vascular and pancreatic endocrine dysfunction, thus increasing the risk of diabetes and hypertension. Because taurine may reduce cardiometabolic risk, we hypothesized that taurine treatment has a beneficial effect on the pancreatic vasculature during protein restriction.
Methods and Results.
Weaned mice were fed a normal or a low-protein diet and were treated with or without taurine for 3 months. The lieno-pancreatic artery (LPA) from low-protein diet-treated mice exhibited impaired endothelium-dependent relaxation to acetylcholine that was associated with decreased endothelium-derived hyperpolarization (EDH), hydrogen sulfide (H 2S) production, and H 2S-synthesizing CBS expression and impaired vasorelaxation to an H 2S-donor, NaHS. These changes were prevented by taurine treatment. We compared the effects of taurine with the effects of the direct vasodilator hydralazine and found that both normalized blood pressure and the endothelial vasodilator function of the LPA in the mice fed a protein-restricted diet. However, only taurine restored the CBS expression in the LPA and insulin secretion in response to high glucose. The LPA supplies the pancreas and shares morphometry with the mesenteric resistance artery (MRA). However, in the MRA, low-protein diet-induced endothelial dysfunction is driven by impaired NOS-derived NO with no changes in H 2S signaling.
Conclusions
The results suggest that taurine protects against protein malnutrition-induced endothelial dysfunction in the LPA by upregulating the CBS-H 2S pathway. Considering the importance of the pancreatic vasculature for endocrine islet activity, taurine may be a potential therapy for the vascular and metabolic dysfunction associated with malnutrition and comorbidities.