The contributions of the rat hepatic flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO) and cytochrome P-450 isozymes (P-450) in the ethylenethiourea (ETU) mediated inactivation of P-450 isozymes and covalent binding of the compound to microsomal proteins were investigated. In vitro, ETU was found to inhibit P-450 marker activities in microsomes obtained from untreated (UT) and phenobarbital (PB), beta-naphthoflavone (BNF), and dexamethasone (DEX) pretreated rats. This inhibition was dependent on the presence of NADPH and was completely abolished by coincubation with glutathione (GSH). Heat treatment of microsomes prior to ETU-mediated P-450 inactivation led to diminished loss of P-450 marker activities in microsomes obtained from UT and PB-pretreated, but not BNF- or DEX-pretreated rats, suggesting FMO involvement in the inactivation of some P-450 isozymes. Covalent binding of [14C]ETU to microsomal proteins was found to be NADPH-dependent and enhanced with BNF or DEX pretreatment of rats. This binding was completely inhibited by coincubation with GSH. Heat treatment of microsomes and P-450 inactivation studies indicated a predominant role of FMO in the observed covalent binding. Addition of the sulfhydryl reagents dithiothreitol (DTT) or GSH after the incubation of microsomes, [14C]ETU, and NADPH resulted in the complete release of bound ETU, suggesting the reduction of disulfide bonds between oxidized ETU and protein sulfhydryls. Microsomal heme content was not decreased following incubation of microsomes with ETU and NADPH, and P-450 appeared to be converted to P-420.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)