Dietary Taurine Enhances Intestinal Digestion, Absorption, and Villus Morphology in Mice

Taurine supplementation has been shown to promote growth, but the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Here, we investigated the effects of taurine on intestinal health in mice under both normal and LPS-induced inflammatory conditions. Thirty-six male C57BL/6J mice were first divided into control and 2% taurine groups for 42 days. On day 43, each group was split into PBS or LPS subgroups, resulting in four groups (Con, LPS, Tau, LPS+Tau). Twelve hours after LPS injection, all mice were euthanized for sample collection. The results demonstrated that taurine supplementation increased body weight gain (p < 0.05) without affecting feed intake, indicating improved feed efficiency. Mechanistically, taurine supplementation enhanced intestinal absorptive function through multiple convergent pathways: it increased the activities of digestive enzymes (trypsin, maltase, and sucrase), upregulated nutrient transporter gene expression (EAAT3, SGLT1, and FATP4), and improved villus and microvillus morphology. These functional improvements were confirmed by a 1.7-fold increase in serum D-xylose absorption and significant elevations in total protein and albumin levels (p < 0.05). Notably, taurine supplementation upregulated the gene expression of intestinal stem cell (ISC) proliferation markers (Lgr5 and Ki67) and differentiation markers, including Villin (enterocyte), Muc2 (goblet cell) and ChgA (enteroendocrine cell). Under LPS challenge, taurine supplementation significantly attenuated disease severity, preserved villus architecture, and reversed inflammation-induced declines in digestive enzymes and nutrient transporters. Collectively, these findings establish taurine as a multifunctional nutrient that enhances intestinal health by optimizing digestive and absorptive capacity while promoting epithelial renewal, thereby supporting its potential application to improve growth and counteract intestinal injury.