The capacities of various C19 steroids for prematurely inducing the normal metabolic patterns of rat liver in adulthood (70 days old) have been studied with hepatic microsomes of 42-day-old males castrated on day 24, 30, 32, or 34 of life. Dehydroepiandrosterone 16alpha-hydroxylase activity was significantly reduced (P less than 0.05) by castration during this 10-day interval but the 7alpha- and 7beta-hydroxylases, the N-demethylation of aminopyrine, and cytochrome P-450 concentration were unaffected. Daily administration of testosterone stimulated the DHA 16-alpha- and 17beta-hydroxylases, aminopyrine N-demethylation, and increased the P-450 content, but suppressed the 7alpha-hydroxylase. These effects only appeared with more than 1 week of the continuous treatment. Testosterone was the most active of the androgens studied; dihydrotestosterone (DHT) increased the DHA 16alpha-hydroxylase to a lesser extent, but this steroid and etiocholanolone stimulated DHA 7alpha-hydroxylation; androsterone was totally ineffective. These data suggest that testosterone rather than DHT from pubertal testes plays a significant role in control of hepatic oxidative enzyme activities during puberty.