Which amino acid may be able to help patients with long covid?

Taurine may be able to identify who is at risk of long covid and also potentially ease symptoms of people suffering the condition. That’s the finding of researchers at the University of Alberta who published their findings in the journal Cell Reports Medicine. Taurine is an amino acid that helps regulate several functions in the human body including the immune system.

According to the CDC, long covid or post-covid conditions are a broad range of symptoms and ongoing health problems that continue or occur after the initial acute phase of covid-19 infection. The most common are fatigue, muscle pain, shortness of breath but also include depression and memory loss.

At present there are no proven treatments for long covid and the precise mechanism which causes long covid is also not yet known.

Low levels of taurine in patients with long covid

The researchers at the University of Alberta examined 117 patients who had been admitted to hospital with acute covid-19. Fifty-five of them developed long covid.

The most notable finding from their analysis was that the patients who had lower levels of taurine had more symptoms, were hospitalised more and had an increased risk of dying. Conversely, patients who had higher levels of taurine had fewer symptoms.

This allowed the researchers to develop a predictive test to determine which patients with covid-19 will go on to develop long covid. That test is now being validated using blood samples of thousands of people across Canada to ensure it is accurate across larger populations.

Taurine supplements may help with long covid

The research group, led by principal investigator Gaviin Oudit, professor of medicine in the U of A’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, are also carrying out further studies to see whether taurine supplements could reduce long covid in patients.

Oudit warned that “patients should not go out and start consuming taurine in high levels to help with long covid”, saying that while taurine supplements are relatively safe it is necessary to get the evidence about their impact on long covid from clinical trials.

What is taurine?

Taurine is an amino acid making up around 0.1% of weight of the human body. It is predominantly found in bile, in the large intestine. It was originally discovered in ox bile in 1827, being given the name taurine after the Latin word ‘Taurus’ meaning ox.

Despite its abundance in human organs, taurine is not considered an essential dietary nutrient and does not have a recommended intake level. The human body itself synthesises taurine by way of a complex process in the pancreas from constituent elements.

Despite the fact it is not considered an essential dietary nutrient, it is often included as an ingredient in dietary supplements, though the clinical evidence supporting any health benefits from taurine supplements is lacking.

Taurine naturally occurs in fish and meat, but the level of the amino acid retained in these foods can significantly decrease with cooking methods like baking or boiling. Moreover, taurine is a typical ingredient in energy drinks, where it’s included in amounts ranging from 1 to 3 grams per serving. Despite its common usage, the exact health implications of taurine consumption, either positive or negative, remain under-researched, and high-quality clinical studies are scarce.