Dichloroacetate (DCA) is an investigational drug for certain metabolic disorders, a by-product of water chlorination and a metabolite of certain industrial solvents and drugs. DCA is biotransformed to glyoxylate by glutathione S-transferase zeta (GSTz1-1), which is identical to maleylacetoacetate isomerase, an enzyme of tyrosine catabolism. Clinically relevant doses of DCA (mg/kg/day) decrease the activity and expression of GSTz1-1, which alters tyrosine metabolism and may cause hepatic and neurological toxicity. The effect of environmental DCA doses (microg/kg/day) on tyrosine metabolism and GSTz1-1 is unknown, as is the time course of recovery from perturbation following subchronic DCA administration. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (200 g) were exposed to 0 microg, 2.5 microg, 250 microg, or 50 mg DCA/kg/day in drinking water for up to 12 weeks. Recovery was followed after the 8-week exposure. GSTz specific activity and protein expression (Western immunoblotting) were decreased in a dose-dependent manner by 12 weeks of exposure. Enzyme activity and expression decreased 95% after a 1-week administration of high-dose DCA. Eight weeks after cessation of high-dose DCA, GSTz activity had returned to control levels. At the 2.5 or 250 microg/kg/day doses, enzyme activity also decreased after 8 weeks' exposure and returned to control levels 1 week after DCA was withdrawn. Urinary excretion of the tyrosine catabolite maleylacetone increased from undetectable amounts in control rats to 60 to 75 microg/kg/24 h in animals exposed to 50 mg/kg/day DCA. The liver/body weight ratio increased in the high-dose group after 8 weeks of DCA. These studies demonstrate that short-term administration of DCA inhibits rat liver GSTz across the wide concentration range to which humans are exposed.