Excretion of sulfate and taurine in rats fed with a high protein diet

Sulfate and taurine are the main metabolites of L-cysteine in mammals and are excreted in the urine. The effect of a high protein diet on the ratio of sulfate to taurine excretion was studied in rats using synthetic 25% (standard protein diet group, group A) and 40% (high protein diet group, group B) casein diets. Average taurine and sulfate excretions (mumol/kg of body weight per day) were 280.4 +/- 93.8 and 943.2 +/- 144.8 in group A and 553.4 +/- 124.5 and 2675.0 +/- 390.9 in group B, respectively. Thus, the average taurine/sulfate ratio in group A was 0.30 +/- 0.08. By a single administration of 5 mmol of L-cysteine/kg of body weight in group A, the average taurine and sulfate excretions increased to 1127.5 +/- 120.2 and 4043.0 +/- 305.6, respectively, but the taurine/sulfate ratio changed only slightly (0.28). The average taurine/sulfate ratio in group B was 0.22 +/- 0.07, a significantly lower ratio than that in group A, which means that daily intake of a high protein diet resulted in more sulfate excretion. The taurine/sulfate ratio in group B was affected only slightly (0.19) by the cysteine administration as well. These results suggest that the ratio of taurine and sulfate production was determined by dietary protein content and that the increase in sulfate production is larger than that of taurine production when the intake of dietary protein is increased.