Platelet taurine content in Friedreich's disease

Abstract

We have studied the concentrations of taurine and of 6 other amino acids in platelets from 12 patients with Friedreich's disease and 12 age sex-matched normal control subjects. No significant differences could be demonstrated between the two groups. The glycine/serine ratio was lower in all the patients but this change did not reach statistical significance. From these and other data, we conclude that the taurine retention deficit observed previously in Friedreich's disease cannot be the primary causal defect. RESUME: Nous avons etudie les concentrations de la taurine et de six autres acides amines dans les plaquettes de 12 patients avec la maladie de Friedreich et de 12 tSmoins normaux du meme age et sexe. Nous n'avons pas mis en Evidence de difference significative entre les deux groupes. Le rapport glycine/serine etait uniformement plus bas chez les patients, mais cette modification n'atteignait pas une signification statistique. Nous concluons que le deficit dans la retention de la taurine, que nous avions prealablement mis en Evidence dans la maladie de Friedreich, ne peut etre causal a la maladie.

Platelet Glycine, Glutamate and Aspartate in Primary Headache

“…The platelet content of glutamate and aspartate reported here compares well with data from the only other report in the literature (14). The precise significance of these excitatory amino acids to plate-let function is unknown.…”