CLINICAL OUTCOME STUDY OF CRITICALLY-ILL SEPTIC PATIENTS GIVEN TAURINE SUPPLEMENTED ENTERAL NUTRITION

Background: Sepsis is a significant public health concern and is the main cause of death in surgical intensive care units (ICUs). Patients with sepsis have features consistent with immunosuppression. Taurine is rapidly emerging as one of the more interesting amines which has been reported to have immune-modulatory effect through its action on cytokines. Purpose: To determine the effect of using Immune-enhancing enteral nutritional feed containing taurine compared to Standard enteral nutritional feed on clinical outcomes of ICU septic population. Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, controlled study. A total of 45 patients were randomly divided into 3 groups: Group 1 (n=15) received Standard Enteral Nutrition feed for two weeks, Group 2(n=15) received Immune-Enhancing Enteral Nutrition feed containing 10 mg/kg/day of Taurine for two weeks and Group 3(n=15) received Immune-Enhancing Enteral Nutrition feed containing 30 mg/kg/day of Taurine for two weeks. Parameters measured were serum levels of Interleukin-6, Interleukin-10, C-reactive protein and Total leukocyte count. Results: The current study showed that Taurine had immune-modulatory effect by significantly decreasing the level of pro-inflammatory Interleukin-6 and increasing the level of anti-inflammatory Interleukin-10. Taurine was found effective in improving the clinical outcomes of sepsis patients. Conclusion: Taurine administered enterally at a dose of 30 mg per kg per day to sepsis patients had immune-modulatory effect and improved their clinical outcomes and their quality of life.