Taurine dietary supplementation attenuates brain, thyroid, testicular disturbances and oxidative stress in streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus in male rats

The metabolic dysregulation associated with DM causes secondary pathophysiological changes in multiple organ systems. This work aimed to study the effect of taurine supplementation on brain, thyroid, testicular disturbances and oxidative stress in diabetic rats. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups (Group 1, control; group 2, diabetic; group 3, diabetic + taurine; group 4, taurine). The results illustrated that the dietary taurine intake was effective in lowering the elevated plasma levels of AChE, GnRH, TSH, FSH and LH in diabetic rats compared to untreated ones (P < 0.05), whereas TRH, T3, T4 and testosterone, were significantly increased. Taurine improved the sperm characteristics in diabetic rats as indicated by sperm counts and motility. The data revealed that taurine intake was able to reverse the oxidative effect of diabetes on the antioxidant status of brain, thyroid and testis in diabetic rats. The taurine treated group also showed a significant improvement in the degenerative changes of the seminiferous tubules and spermatogenesis. In summary, it was suggested that taurine may have a regulatory effect on diabetes-induced changes in the gonadal-hormone levels by inhibiting hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and thyroid dysfunctions in the diabetic male rats.