Changes in urinary taurine and hypotaurine excretion after two-thirds hepatectomy in the rat

This study followed the time course of urinary taurine and hypotaurine excr etion after two-thirds hepatectomy in rats. The excretion of both taurine a nd hypotaurine was elevated during 18h following the hepatectomy, with maxi mal excretion during the first 6h. Twelve and 24h after partial hepatectomy , the hepatic hypotaurine concentration was increased but liver taurine did not differ significantly from controls. No changes were observed in hypota urine and taurine concentrations of heart, kidney, lung, muscle tissue and spleen. We postulate that partial hepatectomy induces a rapid increase of h epatic (hypo)taurine synthesis from precursor amino acids. The increased (h ypo)taurine concentrations spill over into urine.