Pyrazole, cobalt and phenobarbital increase the activity of coumarin 7-hydroxylase (COH) in mouse liver. To study the mechanism of this increase, we measured the expression of the cytochrome P-450 2a-4/5 (Cyp2a-4/5) complex, which mediates testosterone 15 alpha-hydroxylase and COH activities, as a function of dose and time after the treatment of C57BL/6 (B6) and DBA/2 (D2) male mice with the inducers. COH activity and Cyp2a-4/5 steady-state mRNA levels were increased in both strains in response to the inducers. No marked effect occurred with testosterone 15 alpha-hydroxylase or activities associated with Cyp1a-1 or Cyp2e-1. A 2-7-fold increase in response to the inducers was seen in the amount of P-450Coh (cytochrome P-450 isoenzyme catalysing coumarin 7-hydroxylation) protein in Western immunoblots. PCR amplification of a 1 kb region in Cyp2a-4/5-mRNA-derived cDNA, followed by cutting at the diagnostic PstI site, showed that most of the steady-state mRNA consisted of Cyp2a-5, which is also the form most affected by pyrazole. Nuclear run-off analysis revealed no increase in the transcription rate of Cyp2a-4/5 after pyrazole or cobalt treatment, whereas a 2-3-fold increase occurred after phenobarbital pretreatment in B6 mice. Together with previous reports [Aida & Negishi (1991) Biochemistry 30, 8041-8045], the current data suggest that both pyrazole and cobalt increase COH catalytic activity by affecting Cyp2a-5 by post-transcriptional mechanisms in mice.