The purpose of the study was to determine how multi-
vitamin deficiency affects
xenobiotic-metabolizing
enzyme (XME) activities in the rat liver.
Vitamin levels and XME activities were studied in the livers of male Wistar rats who were fed for 4 weeks with semi-synthetic diets containing either adequate (100 % of recommended
vitamin intake) levels of
vitamins (control), or decreased
vitamin levels (50 % or 20 % of recommended
vitamin intake). The study results have shown that moderate
vitamin deficiency (50 %) leads to a decrease of
vitamin A levels only, and to a slight increase, as compared with the control, in the following
enzyme activities: methoxyresorufin O-dealkylase (
MROD) activity of CYP1 A2 - by 34 % (p < 0.05),
UDP-glucuronosyl
transferase - by 26 % (p < 0.05), and
quinone reductase - by 55 % (p < 0.05). Profound
vitamin deficiency (20 %) led to a decrease of
vitamins A, E, B1, B2, and C, and
enzyme activities in the liver:
MROD - to 78 % of the control level (p < 0.05),
4-nitrophenol hydroxylase - to 74 % (p < 0.05),
heme oxygenase-1 - to 83 % (p < 0.05), and
quinone reductase - to 60 % (p < 0.05). At the same time, the
UDP-glucuronosyl
transferase activity and
ethoxyresorufin O-dealkylase activity of
CYP1A1,
pentoxyresorufin O-dealkylase activity of
CYP2B1/2 and 6β-testosterone
hydroxylase, as well as the total activity of
glutathione transferase did not differ from the control levels. The study has demonstrated that profound multi-
vitamin deficiency is associated with a decrease in the expression of
CYP1A2 and CYP3A1 mRNAs to 62 % and 79 %, respectively. These data indicated that a short-term but profound multi-
vitamin deficiency in rats leads to a decrease in the activities and expression of the some XME that play an important role in detoxification of
xenobiotics and metabolism of drugs and
antioxidant protection.