Effects of sex hormones on the metabolism of tryptophan to niacin and to serotonin in male rats.

It is known that deaths attributable to pellagra, which is considered to be a disease caused by the disturbance of tryptophan metabolism, have been approximately two-fold higher in women than in men. We investigated the effects of the administration of female and male sex hormones on the contents of tryptophan and such metabolites as serotonin, nicotinamide, N1-methylnicotinamide, N1-methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide, and N1-methyl-4-pyridone-3-carboxamide, and on the conversion ratio of tryptophan to niacin in male rats. Feeding a diet containing estrone or testosterone had no effect on the concentrations of tryptophan and serotonin in the blood and brain, or on the concentration of 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid in the brain. On the contrary, feeding a diet containing estrone caused to a decrease in the urinary excretion of nicotinamide, N1-methylnicotinamide, N1-methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide, and N1-methyl-4-pyridone-3-carboxamide, and of the conversion ratio of tryptophan to niacin when compared with the control rats. Feeding a diet containing testosterone had no effect on any parameter. We postulate from these findings that the cause of higher pellagra deaths in women than in men is attributable to the decrease in the formation of niacin from tryptophan, but not in the formation of serotonin by the female hormone. It seems likely that female sex hormones inhibit the synthesis of niacin from tryptophan, and that women, especially during pregnancy, will be more at risk to pellagra than are men.