Failure of oral taurine supplementation to influence skin-flap survival in rats.

Taurine was given orally to rats to determine its influence on survival of subdermal plexus skin flaps. Flaps were raised on the dorsum of 40 rats divided into groups given 0, 10, 30, or 100 mg/kg taurine daily starting 2 days before and continuing 14 days after surgery. No significant difference was found between groups for percentage of distal flap necrosis, although mean area of necrosis was less for the 30 mg/kg group. Oral taurine did not result in significant elevation of plasma taurine concentrations at day 16 of administration, although the 30 mg/kg group maintained a higher mean value. Analysis of skin taurine concentrations in flaps failed to detect significant differences between groups at each of three zones (proximal-normal, middle-transition, and distal-sloughed). All groups, except the 10 mg/kg group, had significantly lower taurine concentrations in the distal zone than in the normal and transition zones. In each group there was a trend toward lower taurine concentration from proximal to distal, suggesting that loss of tissue taurine may occur with tissue necrosis. Subjectively, no differences in skin histopathology were noted, but less severe skin lesions were more common in the 10 mg/kg group. Daily oral taurine supplementation rates of 10, 30, or 100 mg/kg appear not to significantly affect survival of subdermal plexus skin flaps in rats.