Precocious development of detoxicating enzymes following pituitary graft

IN vertebrates many biologically-active endogenous compounds, (such as bilirubin, steroid hormones and the catecholamines) and an enormous range of drugs, carcinogens, pesticides, industrial pollutants or their metabolites are made more polar and excreted by conjugation with glucuronic acid1. This is the principal route of detoxication but only one mechanism for the biosynthesis of such ‘glucuronides’ is known: glucuronyl transfer by UDP glucuronyltransferase (GT) (EC 2.4.1.17.) to the accepting compound1.