Corticosterone catabolism by mouse liver homogenate: strain difference in dependence on added NADP.

The C57BL/10ScSn and DBA/2J strains of mice differed in the rate at which corticosterone was reductively catabolised by liver homogenates when the animals had been fed a diet low in fat. The addition of an NADPH generating system to the homogenates increased the catabolism of corticosterone. Its greatest effect was on the homogenates from DBA mice given a fat-free diet and its least effect on those from C57 mice fed a standard diet. The addition of NADP was similar in its effect to the addition of the complete NADPH generating system. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase stimulated corticosterone breakdown only in homogenates from C57 mice on the standard diet. The addition of glucose-6-phosphate had no effect. NADP was the only effective stimulator of corticosterone reduction in homogenates from CBA/FaCam mice.