Taurine is not suitable for estimating biological age

Instead of the expected decline with age, as is the case with other age markers, the concentration of taurine in the blood of humans, monkeys and mice either remained stable or even increased. The results showed that in the same organism, taurine levels can fluctuate much more than they change with age. This means that using taurine as an ‘indicator of ageing’ is simply meaningless.

The study covered several groups at once — from participants in the Baltimore Study of Ageing aged 26 to 100, to mice and monkeys of different ages. Data from two other human samples — residents of the Balearic Islands and the city of Atlanta (USA) — were also studied. The conclusion is the same everywhere: taurine behaves too unpredictably to be called a universal marker of ageing.

‘We hoped that taurine would be a good biomarker — a substance that could be used to judge the rate of ageing,’ says one of the authors, Dr. Rafael de Cabo. ‘But it turned out that everything depends on individual factors: genetics, nutrition, environment.’

Moreover, even the relationship between taurine levels and physical condition turned out to be confusing. In some cases, high levels were accompanied by weak muscle strength, in others — the opposite. And sometimes there was no connection at all.

Scientists emphasise that the search for reliable biomarkers of ageing continues. Such a tool would not only help to more accurately determine biological age, but also to develop personalised strategies for maintaining health in old age. But taurine, despite its popularity, is not on that list.