title: Evaluation of taurine as a biomarker of liver damage in paracetamol poisoning.
abstract: Taurine is one of the most abundant amino acids in the body. Plasma taurine levels of 217 paracetamol positive and 100 paracetamol negative poisoned patients (related to non-hepatotoxic agents) referred to the Toxicology lab in Cardiff Poisons unit and 90 healthy humans (age between 18 and 45) were measured by a high performance liquid chromatography method. The data were analysed using linear regression and two-tailed unpaired student t-test using Prism software package. We showed that the mean plasma taurine concentration in the paracetamol-poisoned patients (mean 26.4+/-1.6 mg/l) was significantly different from the control groups (mean 5.6+/-0.2 mg/l) (P<0.0001) and the non-paracetamol group (mean 18.1+/-1.1 mg/l) (P<0.01). Taurine is produced by the liver in response to a toxic insult and subsequent leakage from damaged cells leads to increased concentrations in plasma and urine. Therefore a plasma or urinary taurine concentration could be a useful marker for paracetamol-induced hepatic damage.
authors: Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors: Mohammadreza
authors: M
authors: Ghandforoush-Sattari
authors: Siminozar
authors: S
authors: Mashayekhi
mesh_terms: D000082:Acetaminophen / Q000097:blood / Q000506:poisoning*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000506:poisoning*; D015415:Biomarkers; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011517:Prothrombin Time; D012964:Sodium / Q000097:blood; D013654:Taurine / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D015415:Biomarkers; D013654:Taurine; D000082:Acetaminophen; D012964:Sodium