Elevated blood taurine levels in acute and evolving myocardial infarction

Blood samples obtained from 97 consecutive patients admitted to the hospital for chest pain were analyzed for taurine concentrations. The mean value of the maximum taurine concentration in whole blood from AMI patients were greater than the mean value of the maximum taurine concentration in patients without AMI. There was no difference in plasma taurine levels between AMI and non-AMI patients, indicating that a cellular component(s) of whole blood was sequestering taurine. The increased blood taurine concentrations in the AMI patients evolved over the course of 70 hr and paralleled the increase in total CK levels. Blood taurine concentrations, in general, did not rise in patients who had chest pain of unknown etiology, skeletal muscle trauma, pleuritic pain, SVT/VT plus CV, acute pericarditis, acute cholecystitis, or angina pectoris. It is concluded that blood but not plasma taurine concentrations rise after acute myocardial injury and tend to be higher the more extensive the infarction. The mechanism of the blood taurine rise is unknown, but a myocardial source is probable. Also, there is evidence that the myocardium selectively leaks taurine, and not other amino acids. Monitoring blood taurine concentration in AMI may provide useful diagnostic and prognostic information.