Background: It has been verified that taurine has some preventive effects on diabetes and its complications when used alone or together with other drugs, but there are few reports about taurine on the prevention of diabetic nephropathy, the mechanisms of which are still unknown.
Methods: Taurine was administered to type diabetic rats induced by high fat high sugar diet combined with STZ injection. The preventive effect of taurine on diabetic nephropathy was investigated by detecting blood glucose, lipid metabolism, kidney function and glomerular basement membrane metabolism.
Results: Taurine could lower blood glucose, TG, TC, BUN, Scr, NAG, U-PRO, the expression of laminin B1(LBN1) mRNA, and increase HDL-C of diabetic rats.
Conclusions: The results indicated that taurine could prevent the occurrence and development of diabetic nephropathy by decreasing blood glucose, improving lipid metabolism, glomerular basement membrane metabolism, and kidney function.