Homeostasis of taurine and glutamate plasma levels after acute and chronic ethanol administration in man

Taurine homeostasis is perturbed after acute and chronic ethanol administration. An oral dose of ethanol, (0.8 g / kg) significantly decreased the plasma taurine content 90 minutes after its administration, while glutamic acid content increased significantly at 30 minutes. Chronic alcohol abusers, showed significant increases in plasma taurine content 7 days after alcohol withdrawal. In 50% of these patients the taurine levels exceeding the reference range and correlated with the elevated levels of plasma glutamic acid. In addition in these patients there was also a significant decrease in anxiety score, CIWA Ar, (p