Taurine, Analogues and Bone

Abstract

The recent finding that bone tissue contains high amounts of taurin¹; has prompted the investigation of taurine’s role in bone. This has resulted in the surge of reports yielding two major breakthroughs. First, taurine stimulates bone formation. Second, it inhibits bone resorption, thereby preventing alveolar bone loss. Apart from this, beneficial effects of taurine on fenestration, healing of wounds and following tooth extraction have been discussed. In a review related to osteoporosis, alveolar bone loss and drug development, Wyhn²argued that it is time to look beyond bisphosphonate to other drugs that might prevent the resorptive phase of alveolar bone loss; bisphosphonates are the only available remedy now and have been for many years. He suggested that any new agent must have the ability to block the production of inflammatory factors and to arrest the cause of osteoporosis. The recent finding that taurine inhibits bone resorption indicates that it and perhaps some of its analogues deserve further consideration as new therapeutic agents. In this review, we first discuss taurine’s effect on bone formation followed by a discussion on bone resorption. Finally, we make the case that taurine and its analogues may serve as important alternatives to bisphosphonate therapy.