Effects of neonatally administered chlorpromazine and reserpine on the responsiveness of rat hepatic drug-metabolising enzymes to testosterone in adult life.

The effects of neonatally administered chlorpromazine and reserpine on the response of rat hepatic drug-metabolising enzymes to testosterone in adult life have been investigated using the chlorinated cyclodiene substrate DME. Neonatal treatment with chlorpromazine and reserpine had effects on the metabolism of DME similar to, but not as pronounced as, those of castration when adult. The effects of adult castration of male rats on hepatic microsomal metabolism of DME were fully reversed by treatment with testosterone propionate, with metabolism being restored to that of a control intact male. However, testosterone propionate treatment of either intact or castrated adult males that had received neonatal reserpine or chlorpromazine did not restore levels of metabolism to those characteristic of control adult male rats. These results suggest that neonatally administered chlorpromazine and reserpine alter the sensitivity of hepatic drug-metabolising enzymes to the actions of testosterone in adult life.