Induction of the placental form of glutathione S-transferase by lead nitrate administration in rat liver.

The administration of a single dose of lead nitrate to male Wistar rats caused an increase of a polypeptide in the liver cytosol that cross reacted with the anti-rat antibody of the placental form of glutathione S-transferase (GST-P). GST-P appeared when doses of lead that induced liver cell proliferation were given (5 and 10 micromoles/100 g of body weight). Recently, it has been shown that rat hepatic nodules also exhibited an increased content of the placental form of GST-P. The induction of GST-P by lead together with other biochemical effects exerted in the liver by this metal, suggests that some chemicals may induce in rat liver a biochemical pattern similar, in some aspects, to that exhibited by carcinogen-induced hepatocyte nodules.