Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes of nasal tissue are relatively resistant to induction by classical inducers. In the present study, the effects of starvation on the expression of CYP1A, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2E, 2G, and 3A subfamilies in the nasal mucosa of rat were studied. Fasting for 72 hr caused an increase in 2E1-dependent p-nitrophenol hydroxylase and 1A-dependent ethoxy- (or methoxy) resorufin dealkylase activities, but did not affect either 2A-linked coumarin hydroxylase or the testosterone hydroxylase activity, the latter reaction being a marker of several CYPs including 2G1. Whereas increases in 2E1- and 1A- associated catalytic activities were accompanied by a concomitant increase in the corresponding apoproteins as determined by immunoblotting, immunoactive protein bands reactive with antibodies raised against rat 1A1, 2B1, 2C11, 3A1 or rabbit nasal 2A10/11 and 2G1 were not altered. Fasting also increased CYP2E1 and CYP1A2 on the mRNA level, but did not alter CYP1A1 mRNA as determined by hybridization with cDNA probes selective for these cytochromes. A reiterative administration of chlormethiazole, a specific inhibitor of 2E1 in liver, strongly inhibited many CYPs, including 2E1, 1A2, 2G1, and 2A in the nasal mucosa, but did not influence expression of 2B or 3A as determined by immunoblotting or catalytic activities. The chlormethiazole-mediated inhibition of 1A1 and 2E1 was demonstrated to be at the mRNA level. These results suggest that fasting induces the gene expression of 2E1 and 1A2 and that the mechanisms involved in the regulation of CYPs in the nasal mucosa are tissue-specific. The inducibility of the above-mentioned isoforms may have a significant role in the clearance of drugs and bioactivation of inhaled compounds.