Effects of oral contraception on liver function tests and serum proteins in women with active schistosomiasis

Thirty-eight women with urinary or intestinal schistosomiasis but without clinical or laboratory evidence of hepatic involvement and 30 healthy control women were treated with an oral contraceptive containing 0.05mg ethinyl estradiol and 0.05mg levonorgestrel for six consecutive months. Liver function tests (serum bilirubin, SGOT, SGPT, serum alkaline phosphatase) and serum proteins (total, albumin, globulins, ceruloplasmin, haptoglobin and alpha-1 antitrypsin) were measured before beginning the treatment and after three and six months of use. Both group experienced significant increases in SGOT, SGPT and serum alkaline phosphatase during the first three months of treatment with tendencies to decrease during the subsequent 3 months. No change occurred in serum bilirubin. There was significant decreases in serum albumin and haptoglobin and increases in alpha-1 globulin, ceruloplasmin and alpha-1 globulin, there were no significant differences between schistosomiasis patients and the controls in terms of changes in any laboratory test as a result of the treatment, thus suggesting that patients with active schistosomiasis do not incur a higher risk of hepatic dysfunction while using oral contraception.