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Taurine Enhances the Sexual Response and Mating Ability in Aged Male Rats

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Taurine 8

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 776))

Abstract

It has been demonstrated that taurine is abundant in male reproductive organs, and can be biosynthesized by testis, but the taurine concentration will reduce with aging. The levels of serum LH, T, NOS, and NO were found to be obviously increased by taurine supplementation in aged rats in our previous study. In addition, aging will result in a significant decline in sexual response and function, which may be attributed to the androgen deficiency. Furthermore, NO has been proposed as a crucial mediator of penile erection. That makes us hypothesize that there is potential relationship between taurine decline and erection dysfunction in aged males. So the primary aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of taurine on male sexuality in rats. Taurine was offered in water to male aged (20 months old) rats for 110 days. The effects of taurine on the sexual response, mating ability, levels of serum reproductive hormones, and penile NOS and NO levels were investigated. The results showed that taurine can significantly reduce the EL and ML; obviously increase the ERF, MF, IF, and EJF; stimulate the secretion of GnRH, LH, and T; and elevate penis NOS and NO level in aged rats. The results indicated that taurine can enhance the sexual response and mating ability in aged male rats by increasing the level of testosterone and NO, but the exact mechanism of which needs to be further investigated.

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Abbreviations

LH:

Luteinizing hormone

T:

Testosterone

NOS:

Nitric oxide synthase

NO:

Nitric oxide

Con:

Control group

Tau:

Taurine group

β-Ala:

β-Alanine group

EL:

Erection latency

ERF:

Erection frequency

ML:

Mount latency

MF:

Mount frequency

IF:

Intromission frequency

EJF:

Ejaculation frequency

GnRH:

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone

FSH:

Follicle-stimulating hormone

E2:

Estradiol

LH:

Luteinizing hormone

TP:

Total protein

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31001042), the Doctor Initial Foundation of Liaoning Province (Grant No. 20081065), and the Program for Shenyang Agricultural University Excellent Talents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, 110866, People’s Republic of China

    Jiancheng Yang, Shumei Lin, Ying Feng, Gaofeng Wu & Jianmin Hu

Authors
  1. Jiancheng Yang
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  2. Shumei Lin
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  3. Ying Feng
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  4. Gaofeng Wu
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  5. Jianmin Hu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jianmin Hu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. City University of New York, Center for Developmental Neuroscience, College of Staten Island, 2800 Victory Blvd, Staten Island, 10314, New York, USA

    Abdeslem El Idrissi

  2. City University of New York, Department of Biology, College of Staten Island, Victory Blvd 2800, Staten Island, 10314, New York, USA

    William J. L'Amoreaux

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Yang, J., Lin, S., Feng, Y., Wu, G., Hu, J. (2013). Taurine Enhances the Sexual Response and Mating Ability in Aged Male Rats. In: El Idrissi, A., L'Amoreaux, W. (eds) Taurine 8. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 776. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6093-0_32

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