Aniline and hexobarbital hydroxylases from rat lung and kidney: neither sex dependent nor inducible with phenobarbital.

Abstract

The basal activities of aniline hydroxylase (AH), hexobarbital hydroxylase (HH), and ethylmorphine N-demethylase (ED) were measured in the 9000 X g supernatant of kidneys and lungs from male and female rats. No ED activity was detected in any tissue although all tissues N-demethylated three other substrates. The activities of AH and HH were not sex dependent in either kidney or lung. Similarly, pulmonary and renal microsomal protein concentrations were independent of sex. In addition, cytochrome P-450 levels in the kidney were the same in males and females (pulmonary P-450 was not measured). The pulmonary hydroxylases were more active than the renal enzymes in both sexes. In males, phenobarbital (ip, 50 mg X kg-1 X day-1 for 3 days) failed to induce AH or HH in either kidney or lung; it did not increase the weight or microsomal protein levels of these organs and it also failed to increase renal P-450. Thus, the basal activities of AH and HH in lungs and kidneys are not different in male and female rats and are not increased by phenobarbital.