After demonstrating that prenatal exogenous thyroid hormone administration to pregnant rats produces decreases in fetal lung antioxidant enzyme (AOE) development despite increases in surfactant development, we examined the role of endogenous thyroid hormones on the development of these two lung systems. We administered the antithyroid drug methimazole (or diluent) to pregnant rats for the final 3 days before premature or term delivery; in a second series of experiments, propylthiouracil was administered for the 10 days before delivery. Both antithyroid drugs, known to cross the placenta, produced significantly decreased thyroid hormone levels in the pregnant dams. Fetal offspring from methimazole-, and propylthiouracil-treated dams demonstrated significant increases in pulmonary superoxide dismutase activity at 20 and 21 days of gestation and in catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities at 21 days compared with control offspring. Surfactant, measured as lung tissue disaturated phosphatidylcholine, was not different between either experimental group and controls. These results suggest that thyroid blockade increases AOE because the influence of thyroid hormone on AOE development may be one of depression. The findings confirm that certain hormonal regulators may influence different developing fetal lung systems in different ways.