High-resolution two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in combination with silver staining was used to analyze between 800 and 1000 cytosolic and particulate polypeptides from age-matched livers of normal male Long-Evans rat with Agouti coat color (LEA) and Long-Evans rat with Cinnamon-like coat color (LEC) rats with hereditary trait of hepatitis at ages long before, immediately prior to, and just after the onset of hepatitis. Although the electrophoretic patterns of polypeptide expression were very similar with respect to the overall spot patterns, a number of polypeptides which differed either qualitatively or quantitatively were noted. Two constitutively expressed cytosolic polypeptides, P29.5 (Mr 29.5 kDa/pI 6.73) and P30 (30 kDa/6.70), were not detected in livers of LEC animals at any age. In the normal LEA rats both P29.5 and P30 were detected as early as one day after birth and both were expressed at similar concentrations at all ages. In the LEC rats P30-C (30 kDa/6.68) was constitutively expressed in close proximity to the expected position of P30, and P30-C was not detected in the LEA rats. By means of non-equilibrium pH gradient electrophoresis two relatively basic polypeptides were detected in the LEC rats. P18ne was detected immediately prior to and P27ne immediately after the clinical manifestation of hepatitis. Experiments in F1 backcross ([LEA x LEC] x LEC) animals, however, failed to demonstrate any genetic link between either the expression or lack of expression of P29.5, P30, P30-C, or P18ne and hepatitis development. P27ne was detected in all backcross animals exhibiting hepatitis, but was never observed in LEC rats prior to the onset of hepatitis. Although we were unable to identify any unique loss of expression of polypeptides which are genetically linked to hepatitis susceptibility in LEC rats, specific subsets of quantitatively modulated polypeptides were detected.