title: Does a physiological concentration of taurine increase acute muscle power output, time to fatigue, and recovery in isolated mouse soleus (slow) muscle with or without the presence of caffeine?
abstract: High concentrations of caffeine and taurine are key constituents of many ergogenic supplements ingested acutely to provide legal enhancements in athlete performance. Despite this, there is little evidence supporting the claims for the performance-enhancing effects of acute taurine supplementation. In-vitro models have demonstrated that a caffeine-induced muscle contracture can be further potentiated when combined with a high concentration of taurine. However, the high concentrations of caffeine used in previous research would be toxic for human consumption. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether a physiological dose of caffeine and taurine would directly potentiate skeletal muscle performance. Isolated mouse soleus muscle was used to examine the effects of physiological taurine (TAU), caffeine (CAF), and taurine-caffeine combined (TC) on (i) acute muscle power output; (ii) time to fatigue; and (iii) recovery from fatigue, compared with the untreated controls (CON). Treatment with TAU failed to elicit any significant difference in the measured parameters. Treatment with TC resulted in a significant increase in acute muscle power output and faster time to fatigue. The ergogenic benefit posed by TC was not different from the effects of caffeine alone, suggesting no acute ergogenic benefit of taurine.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, James Starley Building, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tallis
authors.forename: Matthew F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Higgins
authors.forename: Val M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Duncan
authors.forename: Rob S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: James
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002110:Caffeine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D051379:Mice; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D018763:Muscle Fatigue / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D013654:Taurine / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D013654:Taurine; D002110:Caffeine