Study
A randomized controlled trial of L-taurine for fatigue in decompensated cirrhosis
L-taurine did not improve fatigue in decompensated cirrhosis; only a post hoc subgroup without anemia showed a signal.
Summary Can taurine supplements ease severe fatigue from advanced liver disease? Show / hide ↓
Researchers randomly assigned 220 adults with advanced liver disease (decompensated cirrhosis) and significant fatigue to two groups. One took 1000 mg of L-taurine daily for 12 weeks, the other received standard care only. The study was open-label, so patients knew what they took. Fatigue improved slightly in both groups, and taurine was no better than standard care (difference of 1.25 points on a fatigue scale, not statistically significant). A secondary look suggested taurine might help the patients who did not have anemia, but the authors state this finding needs confirmation in a proper blinded trial.
What this means for you: This trial does not support buying taurine for fatigue. The overall result was negative, the study was not blinded, and the participants had severe liver disease rather than ordinary age-related tiredness.
moderate evidenceOpen-label RCT in 220 adults with decompensated cirrhosis and clinically significant fatigue, published in Hepatology Communications in 2026. Patients took 1000 mg/day L-taurine plus standard care or standard care alone for 12 weeks; 202 completed. Fatigue (Fatigue Assessment Scale) fell 8.08 points with taurine versus 6.83 points with standard care, but the difference was not significant (mean difference -1.25; 95% CI -3.55 to 1.05; p=0.288). A significant treatment-by-anemia interaction appeared (p=0.009): a post hoc subgroup without anemia showed a possible benefit, which the authors call hypothesis-generating only. The study is open-label and uses a patient-reported outcome, so expectation effects cannot be excluded. For longevity audiences the takeaway is that the largest human taurine fatigue RCT to date was negative overall.
L-taurine did not improve fatigue in unselected patients with decompensated cirrhosis.
Open-label design with patient-reported outcome. Overall result negative (p=0.288). The anemia-subgroup benefit is post hoc, small, and unblinded; authors label it hypothesis-generating. Disease-specific population, not healthy aging.
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