[Riboflavin supply of the Kara-Kalpak ASSr population with pathologic changes of the esophageal mucosa].

Riboflavin supply was studied in 164 adult inhabitants of the Kara-Kalpak ASSR where a high incidence of cancer of the esophagus and precancer changes of the esophageal mucosa were recorded. Endoscopy was used to investigate the morphological picture of the esophageal mucosa. A standard method for evaluation of the activation coefficient (AC) of erythrocytic glutathion-reductase (EC1.6.4.2) in the presence of FAD was used as a criterion of the body supply with riboflavin. Pronounced riboflavin deficiency (AC greater than or equal to 1.30) and B2 hypovitaminosis (AC = 1.20-1.29) were observed in 17 and 23% of the cases, respectively. Statistical analysis of the data obtained evidences that insufficient supply with riboflavin is recorded, on an average, 3.5-5.5 times more frequently in subjects with pronounced catarrhal esophagitis, combined with or without leukoplakia, than in the control group of subjects with out pronounced changes in the esophageal mucosa. No positive statistically significant association between low supply of the body with riboflavin and atrophic esophagitis has been established.