The influence of thiamin deficiency on the metabolism of the oral contraceptive mestranol [3-methoxy-17-ethynyl-1,3,5(10)-estratrien-17 beta-o1] by female rat liver enzymes.

Hepatic microsomes from female rats fed a thiamin deficient diet for three weeks had approximately three times the capacity to metabolize mestranol as microsomes from similar rats fed a diet rich in thiamin. The incremental addition of thiamin to the diet depressed mestranol O-demethylation, NADPH cytochrome c reductase, and cytochrome P-450 content in a dose related manner up to 2 microgram thiamin per gram of feed. Pair-feeding experiments indicate that thiamin ingestion is responsible for the depression of mestranol O-demethylation and NADPH cytochrome c reductase activity while carbodhydrate ingestion is responsible for the decrease in cytochrome P-450. The absorbance spectra generated by the binding of ethylisocyanide to microsomes yield data which suggest that there are no qualitative alterations in cytochrome P-450 due to diet.