Abstract
1. For the purpose of clarifying the mechanism of mercapturic acid formation, properties of enzymes which catalyzed the conjugation of GSH with benzyl chloride (BzCl), bromobenzene (BrPh) and 3, 4-dichloronitrobenzene (DCNB) were examined in the liver of rats. 2. In addition to the supernatant fraction, a microsomal fraction was necessary for the enzymic conjugation of GSH with BrPh. 3. GSH-conjugating activity with BzCl was depleted in the liver of rats treated with BzCl. Either GSH-conjugating activity toward DCNB or BrPh did not show a significant change after the administration of each compound. 4. GSH-conjugating activity toward BrPh markedly increased in the liver of rats treated with phenobarbital, and its ratio of the stimulation was paralleled with that of aniline-hydroxylating activity. 5. It was assumed that increase of the activity of GSH-conjugation with BrPh by the treatment with phenobarbital was due to the induction of a microsomal oxygenase system.
