ACTIVITY OF ALDRINEPOXIDASE, 7-ETHOXYCOUMARIN-O-DEETHYLASE AND 7-ETHOXYRESORUFIN-O-DEETHYLASE DURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHICK-EMBRYOS INOVO

Since the chick embryo in ovo is susceptible to the action of some agents needing metabolic activation we studied the development of the activity of cytochrome P450-dependent monooxygenases in embryo/fetal tissue. The activities of aldrinepoxidase (AE), 7-ethoxycoumarin-O-deethylase (ECOD) and 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) were measured in whole embryos, liver and yolk sac tissue of the chick embryo during development in ovo from day 4 to day 15 of incubation (DI). In yolk sac tissue enzyme activities could be detected from DI 4 on. While EROD activity was only marginally developed, AE and ECOD activities were more pronounced in the earlier developmental period and showed a clear decrease by the time the liver activities rose. With the methods used AE activity could be measured in the homogenate of the whole embryo proper from DI 4 on while EROD and ECOD activity was not detectable before DI 6 or DI 7, respectively. In liver tissue enzyme activities of the three monooxygenases studied developed to a considerable degree from DI 9 on and tended to exhibit maximum values around DI 11-13. Studies on monooxygenase activities in extra-embryonically located tissues have not been published until now. The importance of the yolk sac as a metabolically relevant organ during embryogenesis is pointed out in this study. © 1990 Springer-Verlag.