Liver metabolic activities of intact male pigs injected with skatole

Twelve intact male pigs (101.3 +/- 1.8 kg liveweight [LW]) were divided int o two groups, with six pigs receiving nine daily i.m, injections of skatole (1 mg kg(-1) LW). Enzymatic activities were measured in liver tissues take n at slaughter. These included the rate of phase I skatole metabolism and t he rate of glucuronidation and sulphation of 2-naphrhol and(or) p-nitrophen ol. Fat skatole concentration was higher (P = 0.001) in pigs injected with skatole (0.41 +/- 0.04 ppm) than in control pigs (0.10 +/- 0.03 ppm); howev er, enzymatic activities did not differ between the treatments. The results indicate that increased levels of skatole in backfat do not affect the enz ymatic activities involved in skatole metabolism in the liver.