Effect of dimethylnitrosamine on ornithine decarboxylase in rat liver and kidney.

Changes in ornithine decarboxylase activity were followed in the liver and kidneys of female rats at various pre- and postnatal ages. During normal development the basal ornithine decarboxylase activity was higher in both organs up to the age of one month than in the adults. When newborn animals were treated with a single dose (30 mg/kg i.p.) of dimethylnitrosamine after birth, the normal developmental pattern of ornithine decarboxylase was perturbed both in the liver and kidney. The carcinogen induced more pronounced responses in ornithine decarboxylase activity of the left kidney than that of the right one.