PEDIATRICS Vol. 80 No. 4 October 1987, pp. 517-523
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Taurine Improves the Absorption of a Fat Meal in Patients With Cystic Fibrosis

Dominique C. Belli MD1, Emile Levy PhD1, Pauline Darling MSc1, Claudie Leroy RT1, Guy Lepage RT1, Robert Giguère PhD1, and Claude C. Roy MD1

1 From the Department of Pediatrics, Hopital Ste-Justine and Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Universites de Montreal et de Sherbrooke, Montreal

The effect of taurine supplementation on the absorption of a fat meal was evaluated in patients with cystic fibrosis. In a cross-over design study, five patients with cystic fibrosis (12.1 ± 2.6 years of age) and three control subjects received either placebo or taurine (30 mg/kg/d) for two 1-week periods, a month apart, followed by a fat meal test. Blood samples were drawn 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 hours after the meal. Four patients with cystic fibrosis and severe steatorrhea despite appropriate enzyme therapy showed a significant (P < .05) improvement in the absorption of triglycerides, total fatty acids, and linoleic acid while receiving taurine supplements. Three control subjects and one child with cystic fibrosis and mild steatorrhea receiving enzyme therapy did not experience such an effect. The difference in triglyceride absorption, when calculated as the area under the curve, receiving and not receiving taurine was significantly (P < .05) correlated with the degree of steatorrhea. Furthermore, in contrast to control subjects, the fatty acid composition of chylomicrons in these four study patients showed important discrepancies with that of the fat meal and was corrected, in part, by taurine supplementation. These results suggest that taurine supplementation could be a useful adjunct in the management of patients with cystic fibrosis with ongoing fat malabsorption and essential fatty acid deficiency.

Key Words: cystic fibrosis • taurine • fat meal test • essential fatty acid

Submitted on August 29, 1986
Accepted on December 16, 1986




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