ABSTRACT
Taurine has been recognized since 1827 when it was isolated from ox bile, however, its nutritional importance for the human has remained unclear. In the human, the primary pathway for taurine biosynthesis involves the conversion of methionine to cysteine to cysteine sulfinic acid. Satisfactory methods to assess the status of taurine in the body are not available. A comparison was made of high-performance capillary electrophoresis, high performance liquid chromatography, and automated amino acid analyzer for the measurement of taurine and related sulfur compounds in blood and urine. Automatic amino acid analyzers have been commonly used to quantitate taurine levels in plasma. Plasma concentrations below 30 µmol/L probably indicates an inadequate taurine status. Some of the infant formulas and commercial modified medical food preparations are fortified with taurine. Taurine is present in high concentrations in the retina and in human breast milk.
