Effect of oral contraceptives on urinary porphyrins
Arora, J.G.; Handa, F.; Sidhu, K.S.
Indian Journal of Dermatology Venereology and Leprology 47(3): 142-145
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0378-6323 PMID: 12311790 Document Number: 390035
Several studies have reported on the appearance of cutaneous porphyria in people treated with estrogen. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of oral contraceptives (OCs) on levels of porphyrins in urine in nonporphyric women. 30 women aged 21-40 and on OCs were observed as the study group, and 10 women using other contraceptive methods were observed as the control group. Urinary porphyrins were measured by the Remington method. Levels of urinary coproporphyrin and of urinary uroporphyrin were higher in the study group than in the control group. These differences, however, are not statistically significant. To study the effect of duration of OC treatment, women who had taken OCs for 3-6 months and women who had taken OCs for longer than 6 months were observed, and the means of urinary coproporphyrin and uroporphyrin measured. Again, the differences were found to be insignificant, although slightly higher values of urinary coproporphyrin were obtained for women who had been on OCs for a longer period. These results compare favorably with others reported in the published literature. It can be concluded that OC treatment has no significant bearing on porphyrin metabolism.