The Liver Parenchyma and Foreign Compound Metabolism in Red-winged Blackbird Compared with Rat

Abstract

1. Aniline p-hydroxylase, aminopyrine N-demethylase, and p-nitroamsole O-demethylase activities were measured in liver microsomes prepared from the red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) and compared with analogous preparations from rat. All had lower activities in birds than in rats, when expressed in terms of microsomal protein.

2. Hepatic parenchyma of the bird was observed by electron microscopy to contain less endoplasmic reticulum than that of rat. This morphological difference may partially explain the species difference in enzyme activities.

3. Cytochrome P-450 levels were not sex-dependent in the red-winged blackbird, unlike rat, but the opposite was true for the rate of hydroxylation of aniline.

4. There was no species difference in the activity of aniline p-hydroxylase when expressed in terms of activities per unit of cytochrome P-450, but the activity of p-nitroanisole O-demethylase was higher in red-winged blackbird than in rat; the reverse may be true for the activity of aminopyrine N-demethylase.