Whole-blood taurine concentrations in cats with intestinal disease

Taurine is an essential amino acid in cats, because they lack the metabolic pathways to synthesize it from the precursors methionine and cysteine. In addition, cats conjugate bile acids solely with taurine, and these conjugated bile acids are absorbed from the terminal ileum. Therefore, clinically relevant ileal disease may impair the absorption of taurine-conjugated bile acids resulting in decreased whole-body taurine concentration. A significantly higher number of taurine-conjugated bile acids has been reported in the feces of mice with ileitis and colitis.

Source: Advances in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery - March 1, 2018 Category: Veterinary Research Tags: Gastroenterology Source Type: research