Insufficient taurine in enteral nutrition for patients

Reports have indicated that low levels of plasma taurine are present in patients undergoing long-term parenteral nutrition. Very little is known about the appropriate taurine contents in enteral nutrition, and taurine-fortified enteral nutrition formula is not available. This study was conducted to investigate the taurine contents of enteral solutions from China and Korea and to estimate daily intake of taurine in patients undergoing long-term enteral nutrition. The contents of taurine were measured as 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene-4′-sulfonylchloride derivative using high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with an RF detector. Blenderized enteral solutions from 8 Korean hospitals contained 7.6 ± 6.2 mg/L of taurine, whereas solutions from 12 Chinese hospitals contained 12.9 ± 19.8 mg/L. The estimated daily taurine intakes were 15.2 ± 12.4 and 25.9 ± 39.5 mg/d in Korean and Chinese patients, respectively, receiving blenderized enteral solutions. Taurine was not detected from the 12 Korean commercial formulas, whereas 8 Chinese commercial formulas contained 0.6 ± 1.2 mg of taurine per liter. The estimated daily taurine intakes of Korean patients who consume commercial formulas were 0 mg/2000 kcal per day and those of Chinese patients were 1.3 ± 2.4 mg/2000 kcal per day. These observations indicate that the amounts of estimated daily taurine intakes of patients receiving enteral solution were extremely low, thus suggesting that enteral nutrition solutions of both countries should be fortified with taurine.