Effect of dietary taurine on bile acid metabolism in guinea pigs.

The effect of oral administration of taurine (200-300 mg daily) on the metabolism of bile acids was studied in male guinea pigs which have predominantly glycine conjugated bile acids. The results were summarized as follows: (a) oral administration of taurine for 10 days increased taurine-conjugated bile acids and the ratio of glycine- to taurine-conjugated bile acids (G:T ratio) shifted from 3.95 to 0.19; (b) in taurine fed guinea pigs, the half-life of chenodeoxycholic acid (CDC) was about 40% shorter than that in controls and the fractional turnover rate increased by 70%; (c) the synthetic rate (mg/day/500 g body weight) of bile acids increased from 4.28 to 7.27 by taurine feeding; (d) hepatic cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase activity was increased 2.4-fold by taurine feeding; (e) the total pool size of bile acids did not change significantly but the amount of lithocholic acid in the caecum and large intestine increased by about 40%; (f) neither free cholesterol nor cholesterol ester levels in liver and serum changed significantly. Results of this study suggest that changing the G:T ratio in the bile acid conjugation pattern may influence the rate of hepatic bile acid synthesis.