SummaryRelation between the activity of liver microsomal mixed function oxidase system and dietary protein level was investigated in rats using purified whole egg protein, i.e. free from limiting amino acids . The animals were given either a diet containing 0, 5, 10, 20 or 40% of protein (experiment 1) or a diet containing 5, 10, 15 or 20% of protein (exper iment 2) for 16 days. In experiment 2, half of the rats of each group were intraperitoneally injected sodium phenobarbital (PB) to induce the mix ed-function oxidase system. The cytochrome P-450 content plateaued even at 5% level of dietary protein in experiment 1 and in the PB -untreated groups of experiment 2. However, it showed the highest value at 15% protein level in the PB-treated groups of experiment 2, indicating a shift of the response peak to a higher protein level due to an increase in protein requirement. Cytochrome P-450 reflected most specifically the dietary protein levels when the enzyme system was induced by PB . The 15% protein level, equivalent to 14.1 protein calories % , is a little higher than the optimal dietary level of whole egg protein ever obtained by usual nutritional indices.