Effect of acetoacetate administration on urinary and tissue vitamin B6in rats

Abstract

1. Experiments were undertaken to study the effect of daily intraperitoneal injection of acetoacetate for 90 days on vitamin B6status in male albino rats. The initial dose of acetoacetate was 50 mg per kg body-weight, which was increased by 50 mg per kg body-weight every 15 days.2. Urinary excretion of vitamin B6was found to decrease after 30 days in acetoacetatetreated rats. After 75 days urinary values of vitamin B6were considerably lower in such rats than in the corresponding control rats.3. When acetoacetate injections were stopped after 90 days and the rats were fed L-tryptophan (100mg per rat), they were found to excrete significantly greater amounts of urinary kynurenine, hydroxykynurenine and xanthurenic acid than the corresponding controls.4. Blood and liver vitamin Be levels were found to be lower in rats treated with acetoacetate for 90 days than in the untreated rats.