Hartley S G, Goodman H O, Shihabi Z
Department of Pediatrics, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27103.
Neurochem Res. 1989 Feb;14(2):149-52. doi: 10.1007/BF00969630.
Evidence that taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) is related to the epilepsies is supported by work with both experimental animals and humans. It may function as a neurotransmitter or modulator of neurotransmission. Investigators using an automated amino acid analyzer reported lower mean urinary taurine excretion among epileptics. However, Rao et al. reported higher taurine excretion among epileptics using an older method. Analyses of the same epileptic and control urines by both methods coupled with paper and molecular size chromatography indicate that substances in addition to taurine are co-eluted with taurine using the older method, yielding spuriously high values. The resolution of this disparity is important because the urinary excretion of taurine may reflect primarily the influence of taurine transport alleles which may be polygenic components in the idiopathic epilepsies.
实验动物和人类研究工作均支持牛磺酸（2-氨基乙磺酸）与癫痫相关的证据。它可能作为神经递质或神经传递调节剂发挥作用。使用自动氨基酸分析仪的研究人员报告称癫痫患者平均尿牛磺酸排泄量较低。然而，饶等人使用一种较老的方法报告称癫痫患者牛磺酸排泄量较高。通过这两种方法对相同的癫痫患者和对照尿液进行分析，并结合纸色谱法和分子大小色谱法表明，使用较老的方法时，除牛磺酸外的其他物质会与牛磺酸一起被洗脱，从而产生虚假的高值。解决这一差异很重要，因为牛磺酸的尿排泄可能主要反映牛磺酸转运等位基因的影响，而这些等位基因可能是特发性癫痫中的多基因组成部分。
