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Nutrition and Disease

Low Plasma Taurine Concentration in Newfoundland Dogs is Associated with Low Plasma Methionine and Cyst(e)ine Concentrations and Low Taurine Synthesis¹

² Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia MO 65211; and ³ Department of Molecular Biosciences, ⁴ Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, ⁵ Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences, and ⁶ Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, CA 95616

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: backusr{at}missouri.edu.

Although taurine is not dietarily essential for dogs, taurine deficiency and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) are sporadically reported in large-breed dogs. Taurine status and husbandry were examined in 216 privately owned Newfoundlands, a giant dog breed with high incidence of idiopathic DCM (1.3–2.5%). Plasma taurine concentration was positively correlated (P < 0.01) with plasma cyst(e)ine (r = 0.37) and methionine (r = 0.35) concentrations and was similar across age, sex, neutering status, body weight, and body-condition scores. Plasma taurine concentration was low (40 µmol/L) in 8% of dogs. Dogs with low plasma taurine were older, less active, had more medical problems and treatments, and had lower plasma albumin, cyst(e)ine, tryptophan, and -amino-n-butyric acid concentrations than the other dogs (P < 0.05). Of 9 taurine-deficient, clinically evaluated dogs, 3 had DCM that was reversed by taurine supplementation and 1 had retinal degeneration. When given a diet apparently adequate in sulfur amino acids (5.4 g/kg) for 3 wk, 6 Newfoundlands (52.5 ± 2.3 kg, 3.5–7 y), compared with 6 Beagles (13.2 ± 2.3 kg, 5.5 y), had lower (P < 0.01) concentrations of plasma taurine (49 ± 16 vs. 97 ± 25 µmol/L) and cyst(e)ine and blood glutathione, lower (P < 0.01) de novo taurine synthesis (59 ± 15 vs. 124 ± 27 mg · kg^–0.75 · d^–1), and greater (P < 0.05) fecal bile acid excretion (1.7 ± 0.2 vs. 1.4 ± 0.2 µmol/g). Newfoundlands would appear to have a higher dietary sulfur amino acid requirement than Beagles, a model breed used in nutrient requirement determinations.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. S. Ko, R. C. Backus, J. R. Berg, M. W. Lame, and Q. R. Rogers Differences in Taurine Synthesis Rate among Dogs Relate to Differences in Their Maintenance Energy Requirement J. Nutr., May 1, 2007; 137(5): 1171 - 1175. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]