Adult male rat liver and kidney preparations were incubated with (2-hydroxyoestradiol-1-yl)[35S]glutathione. The glutamic acid and glycine residues were removed by enzymes present in the kidney microsomal fraction; the liver preparations had no effect. The resulting 2-hydroxyoestradiol–cysteine conjugate was acetylated at the α-amino group by both liver and kidney homogenates fortified with acetyl-coenzyme A, but not significantly in the absence of this coenzyme, or by liver or kidney slices. These results suggest that an oestrogen–glutathione conjugate, if formed in vivo, would be converted into the corresponding mercapturic acid before excretion.
