Pharmacokinetics of Oral Taurine in Healthy Volunteers

Taurine, a sulfur-containing amino acid, is a normal constituent of the human diet. Little is known of the pharmacokinetics of taurine in man after oral administration. We studied the pharmacokinetics of 4 g taurine in eight healthy male volunteers (median age 27.5, range 22–45) following orally administration in the fasting state in the morning. Blood samples were taken at regular intervals and plasma taurine concentration was measured by a modified HPLC method. Data were subjected to noncompartmental analysis. Maximum plasma taurine concentration (Cmax) was measured at 1.5 ± 0.6 hr after administration as 86.1 ± 19.0 mg/L (0.69 ± 0.15 mmol). Plasma elimination half-life (T1/2) and the ratio of clearance/bioavailability (Cl/F) were 1.0 ± 0.3 hr and 21.1 ± 7.8 L/hr, respectively. Since taurine is occasionally used in therapeutics as a medicine, the pharmacokinetics and effects of oral taurine in healthy volunteers would be useful in the future studies of taurine in pharmacology and nutrition

A rapid determination of taurine in human plasma by LC

Taurine is an amino acid which is not incorporated into proteins but found in the cytosol of many mammalian cells, in high concentrations (2–30 mM). Increase in plasma taurine concentration has already been reported after surgical trauma, X-radiation, muscle necrosis, carbon tetrachloride-induced liver damage, and paracetamol overdose. Plasma taurine concentration was measured using LC with fluorescence detection following derivatization by o-phtalaldehyde plus 3-mercapto-propionic acid and α-aminobutyric acid as internal standard. Under these conditions the retention time of taurine was 10 min. This method was sensitive enough, to quantify 150 pg mL−1 and detect 50 pg mL−1 of taurine ranging normally between 65 and 179 mmol L−1 (8–22 μg mL−1). The validated method allowed simple determination of human plasma taurine in pharmacokinetic and biomarker studies