EVALUATION OF ACTIVITY OF CYTOCHROME P-450-DEPENDENT MONOOXYGENASE SYSTEM INDUCED BY BETA-NAPHTHOFLAVONE AND DEXAMETHASONE IN RATS AT DIFFERENT AGES

This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of age and some i nducers (BNF - 40 mg/kg/day, DEX - 20 mg/kg/day for 3 days each) on he patic mixed function oxidase, Wistar male rats of very young (0.5 and 1 months), older (2, 4, 8, 12 months) and very old (20 and 28 months) ages were used, The cytochrome P-450 content and the activity of NADH- cytochrome b(5) reductase were highest in one-month-old animals, while the cytochrome b(5) content was highest in the youngest but NADPH-cyt ochrome P-450 activity in the oldest rats, beta-Naphthoflavone (BNF) t reatment resulted in an enhanced content of cytochrome P-450 in all ag e groups but the activity NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase was increas ed only in the oldest rats, Dexamethasone(DEX) treatment led to a decr ease in the activity of NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase in the oldest animals only, The cytochrome P-450 content was decreased in young ani mals (0.5-, 1-, 2-month-old), too, BNF and DEX decreased the cytochrom e b(5) content and the activity of NADH-cytochrome b(5) in all age gro ups.