title: Cerebrospinal fluid taurine after traumatic brain injury.
abstract: In the experimental setting, taurine is known to be released from swollen cells to reestablish their normal volume. However, its clinical relevance has not been fully understood. This study was undertaken to reveal changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amino acids concentration in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). The study included eight patients, in whom a ventricular catheter was inserted to measure intracranial pressure and obtain CSF samples for 5 days. CSF obtained from patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus served as a control. CSF taurine concentration increased 1.8 times control (P < 0.05) after TBI and returned to control value approximately 67 h after injury. Taurine decreased further and remained lower than control thereafter. Phosphoethanolamine showed similar increase, whereas glutamine decreased transiently and arginine remained close to control value. The present data support the period of astrocytic swelling observed after TBI in other morphological studies. The mechanism and consequences of CSF taurine decrease in the subacute stage of TBI need to be elucidated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Chubu Rousai Hospital, Nagoya, Japan. seki.nes@chubuh.rofuku.go.jp
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Seki
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Nobuhiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mizutani
authors.forename: Mitsugu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aimi
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013654:Taurine / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D013654:Taurine