EFFECT OF OESTRADIOL ON THE INDUCTION OF PEROXIDASE IN VARIOUS TISSUES OF THE IMMATURE RAT

Abstract

Department of Biochemistry, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada (Received 14 September 1977) It has been shown previously (Lyttle & Jellinck, 1972) that an enzyme that catalyses the binding of oestradiol-17β to protein in the presence of H2O2 is absent from the uteri of immature rats, but can be induced by physiological doses of oestradiol-17β or gonadotrophin. The induction of peroxidase in the rat uterus under various endocrine conditions has also been investigated (Jellinck & Newcombe, 1977a) and good correlation has been obtained between the ability of compounds to induce the enzyme and their oestrogenic activity (Jellinck & Newcombe, 1977b). In this paper we report on the activity of peroxidase in tissues other than the uterus and the effect of ovariectomy, hypophysectomy and treatment with oestradiol-17β on the levels of this enzyme. Peroxidase was prepared from tissues of immature (26–29 days old) Holtzman rats weighing 70–90 g as described