Therapy of congestive heart failure with orally administered taurine

The clinical efficacy of 2 gm BID of oral taurine (2-aminoethane sulfonic acid) was studied in 24 patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). We expressed the severity of CHF by a score based on clinical signs and symptoms and on roentgenographic data. The maximum possible score, corresponding to the worst CHF, was 23 points. How much the 24 patients improved after receiving taurine for four or eight weeks was estimated by the difference between their pretreatment and posttreatment scores. In 19 of the 24 patients, taurine was effective. In the group as a whole, mean (+/- SEM) scores fell significantly, from 7.3 +/- 0.6 before treatment to 4.4 +/- 0.5 after treatment. Thirteen of the 15 patients who were designated as New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III or IV before receiving taurine could be designated as class II after they completed the study. This pilot study should prompt further investigation into the possible use of taurine in the treatment of patients with CHF.