UREA KINETICS IN HEALTHY-YOUNG WOMEN - MINIMAL EFFECT OF STAGE OF MENSTRUAL-CYCLE, CONTRACEPTIVE PILL AND PROTEIN-INTAKE

Urea kinetics were measured using prime/intermittent oral doses of [(N N)-N-15-N-15]urea, on five separate protocols in thirteen normal young women. Each woman underwent either two or three study protocols. Meas urements were made at day 12 and day 22 of the menstrual cycle, whilst consuming their habitual protein intake in seven women not taking the contraceptive pill and in six women taking the contraceptive pill. In three woman taking the pill, and three not taking the pill, urea kine tics were measured whilst taking a diet in which the intake was restri cted to 55 g protein/d. There was no difference in the rate of urea pr oduction, urea excretion or urea hydrolysis between the women taking t he pill and those not taking the pill at day 22. In the women not taki ng the pill there was no difference in any measure between day 12 and day 22. In the women taking the pill there was a significant differenc e in the disposal of urea N to excretion or hydrolysis on day 12 compa red with day 22, with a relative decrease in excretion and enhancement of hydrolysis at day 12 compared with day 22. On the restricted diet, an intake of 55 g protein/d represented 77% of the habitual intake an d urea production, excretion and hydrolysis were reduced to about 84% of the rate found on the habitual intake. In paired studies the reduct ion in urea production was statistically significant, and there was a statistically significant linear relationship between urea production and either intake or the sum of intake plus hydrolysis. The within-ind ividual variability for urea production was about 10%, for excretion 1 5% and for hydrolysis 44%. The between-individual variability for inta ke was about 17% on the habitual intake. The variability for productio n, excretion and hydrolysis (14, 13, 36%) was less in the women not ta king the contraceptive pill than in those taking the pill (23, 32, 42% respectively). The variability was reduced on the controlled low inta ke of 55 g protein compared with the habitual intake. These results co nfirm the wide variability in aspects of urea kinetics between individ uals. In women this variability is not, to any large extent, accounted for by changes associated with the menstrual cycle.