is therefore the intracellular
taurine concentration that is critical in protecting the photoreceptors from cell
death, presumably through the role of taurine as an antioxidant. Finally, Li
et al. demonstrated that by reducing caloric intake resulted in a retention in
taurine levels (Li et al. 2003). During normal aging, there is usually an
associated loss of taurine from the retina. The authors theorize that a
restricted diet helps to preserve the taurine pool, but the exact mechanism by
which this occurs is currently unknown