Individual variation of acetohexamide reductase activities in liver microsomes and cytosol of rats

Abstract

We examined individual variations in acetohexamide reductase activities in liver microsomes and cytosol of rats. Large differences among individuals were observed for acetohexamide reductase activity in liver microsomes of male Fischer-344 (Fischer), Sprague-Dawley (SD) and Wistar rats at 9 weeks of age, except in the Wistar-Imamichi (Wistar-IM) strain. These four strains of female rats did not exhibit any microsomal enzyme activity. Although acetohexamide reductase activities were fully detectable in liver cytosols from all the strains of male and female rats, there was neither strain-related difference nor considerable individual variation in the cytosolic enzyme activity. In liver microsomes of male Fischer rats at 4 weeks of age, acetohexamide reductase activity was not detectable. The microsomal enzyme activity in male Fischer rats markedly increased at 6 weeks of age to approach the levels at 9 and 12 weeks of age, with large individual variations.