Preventive effect of taurine on experimental type II diabetic nephropathy
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) whose incidence is up to 47.66% is the most common and difficult diabetic microvascular complication to treat and has become the first cause of end-stage renal disease [1-3]. It is reported that about 43% of the chronic renal failure (CRF) patients on dialysis are DN, 60% case fatality of diabetes mellitus (DM) patients are DN, DM patients who died of renal failure are 17 times more than non-DM patients [4]. Therefore, prevention of the occurrence and the development of DN has become a very urgent issue. Taurine, a sulfur-containing b-amino acid with a wide range of biological effects, is the most abundant free intracellular amino acid presents in many tissues of humans and animals [5].