Dietary casein levels and taurine supplementation. Effects on cysteine dioxygenase and cysteine sulfinate decarboxylase activities and tuarine concentration in brain, liver and kidney of the rat.

Activities of cysteine dioxygenase (CO) and cysteine sulfinate decarboxylase (CSD) and the concentrations of taurine (T) in brain, liver and kidney of rats fed on diets containing 18% casein (A), 60% casein (B) and 17% casein supplemented with 1% of taurine (+T), were measured. Regardless of the diet, the three measurements were the same in the brains of the animals in the three groups. In the liver and the kidney, CO activity was also the same in all three diets, but a decrease of CSD activity associated to an increase of T was observed in rats fed on diet B. The taurine-supplemented diet led to an increase in T concentration.