Theophylline Attenuates Circulating Vitamin B6 Levels in Children with Asthma

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of theophylline on circulating vitamin B6 levels in children with asthma. Twenty-six asthmatic children, including 20 patients who were treated with slow-release theophylline and 6 patients not receiving any type of theophylline preparation, were enrolled in this study. Steady state serum theophylline and vitamin B6 [pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP) and pyridoxal (PL)] levels were evaluated in these patients. A depression of serum PLP levels existed in asthmatic children treated with theophylline compared to those not receiving theophylline (5.3 ± 0.5 vs. 9.0 ± 1.4 ng/ml, mean ± SEM; p < 0.05). A significant negative correlation between the serum levels of PLP and theophylline was demonstrated in the subjects of this study (rs = –0.609, p < 0.001). Oral administration of 200 mg of theophylline (Theo-Dur) to 5 children with asthma significantly depressed serum PLP levels 4 h after the drug intake (p < 0.05), whereas theophylline did not affect serum PL levels. From these results, we conclude that theophylline induces a depression of circulating PLP levels in asthmatic children.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: