Comparison of Plasma Taurine Levels between Patients with Esophageal Cancer and Healthy Controls

The incidence rate of esophageal cancer (EC) is high in north and northeast of Iran. Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid with a wide range of vital biological functions. The aim of this study was to compare plasma levels of taurine between patients with EC and healthy controls.

Plasma samples from 36 recently diagnosed cases of EC and 36 healthy adults were analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Data analysis was done using SPSS (version 16). The t-test was used to evaluate significant differences in the level of taurine between the two groups. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Patients with EC had significantly higher levels of plasma taurine compared with the controls (P Patients with EC have significantly higher levels of plasma taurine compared with healthy individuals. This finding suggests that the measurement of plasma taurine in patients with EC could be useful for the early diagnosis of the disease.