Mice of the XVIInc/Z and DBA/2N strains, which are responsive and nonresponsive, respectively, to the aryl hydrocarbon (Ah) receptor, were treated with the hepatocarcinogen 5,9-dimethyldibenzo[c,g]carbazole and their livers were examined by nuclease P1-enhanced 32P-postlabeling for the levels of DNA adducts formed. Pretreatment at the doses usually reported in the literature with the cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) inducers 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), beta-naphthoflavone (BNF), and isosafrole modulated DNA adduction. In XVIInc/Z mice, DNA adduction was totally inhibited by TCDD (a CYP1A1/1A2 inducer), BNF (a CYP1A1/1A2 inducer), and isosafrole (a CYP1A2 inducer). In DBA/2N mice, in which DNA adduction was also inhibited by TCDD, about 25% of the DNA adduct levels persisted after pretreatment with BNF (not a CYP1A1/1A2 inducer in this strain) or isosafrole (a CYP1A2 inducer in this strain). The increase (in all cases less than twofold) in the levels of the phase-II drug-metabolizing enzymes glutathione S-transferase and uridine diphospho-glucuronyltransferase after treatment with inducers cannot explain the total disappearance of DNA adducts. Assays of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine incorporation did not show any induction of DNA synthesis which could explain the decrease in adducts. These results suggest that in vivo 1) increases in CYP1A enzymes by inducers are not correlated with enhanced levels of certain DNA adducts; and 2) phase-II drug metabolizing enzymes are not the main cellular protection pathway for detoxification. An additional mechanism, perhaps also induced by the Ah receptor but highly dependent on the dose of inducer, could be involved in parallel to multidrug resistance (mdr); further experiments are needed to identify this process used by the cell to enhance its protection against toxic or genotoxic effects.