Peroxisome proliferator hepatocarcinogens lack genotoxic activity in numerous in vitro assays using non-target cells which do not respond with peroxisome proliferation. Therefore, the effect of in vivo treatment with WY-14,643 on DNA repair was quantitated in rat hepatocytes, the target cell for carcinogenesis. Palmitoyl CoA oxidase and carnitine acetyltransferase activities in isolated hepatocytes were elevated by WY-14,643 (50 mg/kg/day by gavage for up to 5 consecutive days) and by WY-14,643 (0.1%) or di(2-ethyl-hexyl)phthalate (DEHP) (1.2%) feeding (for up to 28 days), indicating peroxisome proliferation had occurred. DNA repair as unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) was measured autoradiographically as net nuclear grains following thymidine incorporation in primary hepatocyte cultures. Treatment of rats with WY-14,643 (gavage or feeding) or DEHP (feeding) did not induce UDS. Addition of 2-acetylaminofluorene to replicate cultures demonstrated that WY-14,643 or DEHP treatment did not prevent repair response. Additional cultures were treated with H2O2 (0.8 mM H2O2 3x at 1-h intervals) to evaluate the ability of UDS to detect any repair which may be induced by peroxisomal metabolism. H2O2 did not induce UDS at this concentration, nor did it prevent 2-acetylaminofluorene-induced repair. UDS was, however, observed in a separate experiment using a higher concentration of H2O2. In summary, a highly carcinogenic peroxisome proliferator did not induce UDS in the target cell for carcinogenesis in spite of peroxisome proliferation following in vivo treatment.