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A mechanism of taurine transfer across the rat small intestine was elucidated by using the in situ recirculation perfusion or loop method. Taurine uptake was saturable, Km=39.9mM, and energy dependent, and required sodium. The close structural analogues, aminomethane sulfonic acid, gammar-aminobutyric acid, hypotaurine, and beta-alanine, reduced significantly taurine uptake when present in 10-fold excess. The alpha-amino acid, glycine, did not inhibit uptake. Hence, all of these findings lead to a conclusion that a carrier-mediated transport system for taurine exists in the small intestine.
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