Enhancement by Phenobarbital and Diphenylhydantoin of Carbon Monoxide Production in Normal Man

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Abstract
Nine normal human subjects were given a seven-day course of phenobarbital or diphenylhydantoin. With phenobarbital and diphenylhydantoin respectively, total body heme, as estimated by carbon monoxide dilution, rose to an average of 114.8 (p less than 0.05) and 109 (p less than 0.05) per cent of control levels. Rates of heme catabolism, determined by measurement of rates of carbon monoxide production, increased an average of 174 and 214 per cent of normal (p less than 0.01) with these two agents. The agents appear to have induced hepatic heme, and after "induction," catabolism of hepatic heme contributed over 50 per cent of the total carbon monoxide production.