Cytochrome P450lpr is a xenobiotic metabolizing P450 that is found in house flies (Musca domestica). To better understand the regulation of cytochrome P450lpr, the effects of 21 potential monooxygenase inducers were examined for their ability to induce total cytochromes P450 and cytochrome P450lpr levels in adult flies. Six compounds caused induction of total cytochromes P450 per mg protein in adult susceptible (CS) house flies: ethanol (1.6-fold), phenobarbital in food (1.5-fold) or water (1.5-fold), naphthalene (1.3-fold), DDT (1.3-fold), xanthotoxin (1.4-fold), and alpha-pinene (1.2-fold). Six compounds were found to be inducers of cytochrome P450lpr: piperonyl butoxide in food (1.9-fold), phenobarbital in food (1.4-fold) and water (3.4-fold), clofibrate (1.3-fold), xanthotoxin (1.3-fold), methohexital (1.3-fold), and isosafrole (1.3-fold). Comparison of our results with house fly P450 6A1 indicates that there are specific inducers for each of these individual P450s as well as compounds that induce both P450s. Total P450s were inducible by PB in CS house fly larvae, but not in LPR larvae. Immunoblotting revealed no detectable P450lpr in control or PB-treated larvae in either strain. Thus, although total P450s are inducible in the susceptible strain larvae, P450lpr does not appear to be normally present or inducible with PB in larvae of either strain. Northern blots of phenobarbital (in water) treated CS flies indicated that there was a 4.2-fold increase in the P450lpr (i.e., CYP6D1) mRNA levels over the untreated flies. In the multiresistant LPR strain there was no apparent induction of CYP6D1 mRNA by phenobarbital. Following phenobarbital induction, the level of CYP6D1 mRNA in the CS strain was about half of the level in the LPR strain.