Previously, we showed that acetone enhanced aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) activity in only 3-methylcholanthrene (MC)- or $eta$-naphtoflavone (BNF)-inducible microsomes of rat liver. In the present study, the possible mechanism underlying acetone action on AHH was investigated in the liver microsomes from MC-pretreated rats. Other n-alkylketones except acetone did not increase AHH activity, which rather decreased significantly with the length of alkyl side chain. Acetone had no effect on the activity of NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase or inhibited the formation of 3-OH benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P) in nonenzymatic model ascorbic acid system. However, in cumene hydroperoxide (CuOOH)-supported B(a)P hydroxylation, acetone enhanced its velocity remarkably by 30% at the optimal concentration (30 $mu$M CuOOH and 1.0% acetone). From these results, we conclude that acetone may facilitate the formation of an activated oxygen species or the insertion of oxygen into B(a)P molecule in CYP1A rich microsomes.