Influence of dietary protein and carbohydrate on antipyrine and theophylline metabolism in man.

This study was undertaken to examine the influence of changes in dietary carbohydrate and protein content on the oxidation of antipyrine and theophylline in man. When the diets of 6 normal volunteers were changed from their usual home diets to low carbohydrate-high protein diets, the plasma half-life of antipyrine decreased from 16.2 hr to 9.5 hr, and the half-life of theophylline decreased from 8.1 hr to 5.2 hr. When the subjects' diets were changed from low carbohydrate-high protein diets to a high carbohydrate-low protein diets, the mean antipyrine half-life increased from 9.5 hr to 15.6 hr and the mean theophylline half-life increased from 5.2 hr to 7.6 hr. These changes in half-lives were accompanied by changes in metabolic clearance rates but not in the apparent volumes of distribution of the drugs tested. Qualitatively similar results were obtained when the subjects were placed on standard diets followed by the standard diets supplemented with carbohydrate or protein. Supplementing the standard diets with carbohydrate caused an increase in drug half-lives, whereas a protein supplement caused a decrease in the drug half-lives. These data demonstrate marked influences of nutritional factors on oxidative biotransformation of drugs in man.