Oral contraceptive steroids: effects on iron and zinc levels and on tryptophan pyrrolase and alkaline phosphatase activities in tissues of iron-deficient anemic rats.

Weanling Wistar-strain female rats were fed a normal or an iron-deficient diet for 8 weeks and oral contraceptive steroids (OCS) were added for the last 4 weeks. Hemoglobin content, serum iron and zinc levels, liver iron levels, and tryptophan pyrrolase activities, and liver, kidney, and brain zinc levels and alkaline phosphatase activities were determined. Compared to control rats given the normal diet (N group), elevated liver zinc levels and tryptophan pyrrolase activity were found in rats fed the normal diet containing OCS ( + S group), but other parameters did not alter. In rats fed the iron-deficient diet alone (D group), only liver zinc levels were significantly higher, while other parameters were in general lower than those in the N group. In rats fed the iron-deficient diet containing OCS (D + S group), all hematological values, tissue mineral contents with the exception of liver zinc levels, and liver tryptophan pyrrolase and kidney alkaline phosphatase activities were lowered, compared to the N or N + S group. However, compared to the D group, the values of most parameters in the D + S group did not differ significantly, apart from an increase in serum zinc levels. These observations suggest that OCS does not greatly influence the various changes caused by iron-deficient anemia.