Antidiabetic effect of taurine in cultured rat skeletal l6 myotubes

Taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid), a sulfur-containing β-amino acid, is found in all animal cells at millimolar concentrations and has been reported to show various health promoting activities including antidiabetic properties. The beneficial effects of taurine in diabetes mellitus have been known. However, the exact mechanism of hypoglycemic action of taurine is not properly defined. In this study, we investigated antidiabetic effect of taurine in the cell culture system using rat skeletal muscle cells. In cultured rat skeletal L6 myotubes, we studied the effect of taurine (0-100 μM) on glucose uptake to plasma membrane from the aspects of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling. Taurine stimulated glucose uptake in a dose-dependent manner by activating AMPK signaling. From these results, it may suggest that taurine show antidiabetic effect by stimulating insulin-independent glucose uptake in rat skeletal muscle.