Developmental changes in rat liver alcohol dehydrogenase.

Hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase activity and mass content change coordinately during development in male rats. Enzyme activity and mass content increase continuously after birth to 100 and 80% of maximal values within 6 weeks (2.6 +/- 0.4 mumole/min/g liver and 92 +/- 20 micrograms/g liver), respectively. When expressed per milligram of soluble proteins, both parameters peak at 3 weeks (0.052 +/- 0.002 mumole/min/mg protein and 2.0 +/- 0.4 micrograms/mg protein) and then decrease gradually to plateau levels. These decreases probably arise from a "surge" in soluble liver protein levels that occurs after weaning. Similar developmental patterns also occur in female rats. These findings are the first quantitative measurements of this enzyme in developing animals.