[A substrate-type induction of liver microsomal monooxygenases by phenobarbital].

A possibility of step-wise induction of microsomal monooxygenases after injection of phenobarbital in the presence of 3-methylcholanthrene-caused induction was studied. It was found that the ratio of the high- and low-spin types of cytochrome, rather than the position of the CO-peak of its reduced form is a criterion for functional specificity of hemoprotein. Induction by phenobarbital appears possible under conditions when the inductor binding to microsomal hemoprotein is lacking, since cytochrome P-488 has no binding sites for phenobarbital. It is assumed that under microsomal monooxygenases induction by phenobarbital activation of genome and subsequent protein synthesis are operated by the substrate rather than by products of its primary metabolism in microsomes.