Abstract
Hypotaurine is a unique amino sulfinate found in narrowly circumscribed sites in mammalian tissue. These tissues are burdened with high oxidant exposure and have helped focus the investigation of the role of hypotaurine as an antioxidant and free radical trapping agent. The human neutrophil in its resting state contains upwards of 0.8 mM hypotaurine, and even greater concentrations of its metabolic product, taurine (7). When this cell is stimulated, a marked increase in oxygen consumption occurs initiated by a NADPH oxidase system (3). The products of this process include superoxide and hydrogen peroxide which can generate by Fenton chemistry hydroxyl radicals (1,12). Evidence for their appearance by this system and the ability of hypotaurine to quench oxidants released by the neutrophil has been presented (7,12). Evidence of free radical-mediated oxidation of hypotaurine has also been reported using liver microsomal NADPH oxidase as a generator of oxygen-centered free radicals (5). Additionally, brain, lung and sexual tissue contain high levels of hypotaurine. In the seminal fluid of the mammalian male and the uterine washings from the female, especially at esterus, high concentrations of this sulfinate have been observed (9,11). The precise function of hypotaurine has not been delineated but there is evidence to support the contention that hypotaurine can protect these cells from oxidative damage.
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Green, T.R., Fellman, J.H. (1994). Effect of Photolytically Generated Riboflavin Radicals and Oxygen on Hypotaurine Antioxidant Free Radical Scavenging Activity. In: Huxtable, R.J., Michalk, D. (eds) Taurine in Health and Disease. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 359. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1471-2_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1471-2_3
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