Rabbit hepatic progesterone 21-hydroxylase exhibits a bimodal distribution of activity

Progesterone 21-hydroxylase activity varies extensively among liver microsomes prepared from individual New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. The 21-hydroxylase activities are distributed between two groupings that differ by more than tenfold in mean activity. Both male and female animals are represented in the two groupings. However, females exhibited the higher activity more frequently than males. The 21-hydroxylation of progesterone is catalyzed by one of the liver microsomal cytochrome P-450 isozymes, form 1, and these differences in activity are suggestive of differences in the occurrence of this isozyme among NZW rabbits.