Clinical Chemistry, Vol 6, 140-147, Copyright © 1960 by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry

Excretion of Taurine during Healing of Experimental Wounds

¹ Department of Biochemistry, Graduate School and School of Medicine, Loyols University, Chicago, Ill.

A comparison of the excretion of amino acids by normal and wounded rats on a high protein and protein-free diet was made. The nontaurine amino acid nitrogen excretion was found to be the same the control and wounded animals, although the rats on the high protein diet excreted considerably more amino acid nitrogen than did those on the protein-free diet. The wounded animals on the high protein diet had the same total nitrogen output but excreted significantly larger amounts of taurine than did the nonwounded controls. The wounded animals given the protein-free diet excreted the same amount of taurine but produced more total nitrogen than did the control rats. On the basis of the total nitrogen-taurine excretion ratios, data indicate that cystine is conserved by the wounded as compared to the normal animals.