Reduced placental taurine transporter (TauT) activity in pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia and maternal obesity.

Taurine is an important nutrient in intrauterine life, being required for fetal organ development and cellular renewal of syncytiotrophoblast (STB), the nutrient transport epithelium of the placenta. As taurine is conditionally essential in human pregnancy, the fetal and placental demand for taurine is met by uptake from maternal blood into STB through the activity of TauT. Pre-eclampsia (PE) and maternal obesity are serious complications of pregnancy, associated with fetal growth restriction (FGR) and abnormal renewal of STB, and maternal obesity is a major risk factor for PE.