Analysis of rat cytosolic 9-cis-retinol dehydrogenase activity and enzymatic characterization of rat ADHII

We report the characterization of two enzymes that catalyze NAD(+)-dependent 9-cis-retinol dehydrogenase activity in rat liver cystol. Alcohol dehydrogenase class I (ADHI) contributes > 80% of the NA D+-dependent 9-cis-retinol dehydrogenase activity recovered, whereas alcohol dehydrogenase class II (ADHII), not identified previously at the protein level, nor characterized enzymatically in rat, accounts for approximately 2% of the activity. Rat ADHII exhibits properties different from those described for human ADHII. Moreover, rat ADHII-catalyzed rates of ethanol dehydrogenation are markedly lower than octanol or retinoid dehydrogenation rates. Neither ethanol nor 4-methylpyrazole inhibits the 9-cis-retinol dehydrogenase activity of rat ADHII. We propose that ADHII represents the previously observed additional retinoid oxidation activity of rat liver cytosol which occurred in the presence of either ethanol or 4-methylpyrazole. We also show that human and rat ADHII differ considerably in enzymatic properties.