Abstract
When a very effective glucosidurogenic compound, eugenol, was administered to the rat, the following results were obtained on the metabolic response of the glucuronidation system. 1) After a single oral administration of eugenol, a large amount of ether-type glucuronide excreted was found in the urine collected over the 0-12 or 12-24 hour period after the administration. It was reduced rapidly to a normal level. 2) After the same administration, the specific activity of UDP-glucuronyltransferase in the liver started to increase. gradually at 12 hours, reaching its maximum value at 48 hours, and then declined slowly. Liver weight showed a tendency to increase in percentage to initial body weight since 36 hours after the administration. 3) UDP-Glucuronyltransferase activity enhanced by eugenol was localized in microsome in the same manner as basal activity. These results indicate that rapid glucuronide formation and excretion of the administered glucosidurogenic foreign compound took place in the living body, and that the inductive adaptation of UDP-glucuronyltransferase occurred subsequently to the administered compound in liver microsome. It was postulated that an effective glucosidurogenic compound might act in vivo as a 'substrate inducer' on liver UDP-glucuronyltransferase.
