The role of taurine as an antioxidant may be of primary importance in the male reproductive tract. Here the taurine may participate in fractions that protect the polyunsaturated membranes of spermatozoa and this may explain the reproductive benefits of taurine. The antioxidant effects of taurine are explained through the ability of hypotaurine to reduce malondialdehyde formation through oxidation of hypotaurine to taurine. This protects lipids found in the cell membranes. This conversion of hypotaurine to taurine traps a hydroxyl group in the molecule, which passes through an intermediate radical stage, before the formation of disulphide bridges on the molecule are able to stabilise its structure to form taurine following a hydrolysis step. Molecules with the ability to form disulphide bridges, some of which are amino acids or amino acid derivatives, can make good cellular antioxidants because they have the capacity to pass between oxidised and reduced states without propagating free radical chain reactions, and can therefore be thought of as chain breaking antioxidants. The conversion of hypotaurine to taurine is one such reaction that breaks the chain reaction of free radicals in polyunsaturated fats.
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Huxtable, R. J. 1992. Physiological actions of taurine. Physiological Reviews. 72(1): 101-163
