Estrone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) sulfatases were studied in livers of normal and cirrhotic men. Their Km were 3.2 microM and 1.2 microM respectively. The microsomal sulfatases were solubilized by Miranol H2M and ultrasound. After gel filtration, the soluble material gave a single peak of activity for both substrates with a molecular weight of approximately 330,000. In terms of pmol of product.min-1 per mg of fresh tissue, the mean (+/- SD) values of estrone and DHEA sulfatase activities were lower in cirrhotic livers [(n = 7) (4.09 +/- 2.90 and 0.38 +/- 0.20)] than in normal livers [(n = 13)(8.29 +/- 4.00 and 0.69 +/- 0.20)]. The differences were statistically significant : p less than 0.03 for estrone sulfatase and p less than 0.01 for DHEA sulfatase. In cirrhotic men, the mean level of plasma estrone is increased whereas that of estrone sulfate is decreased. The variations may be related to the decrease of serum albumin in cirrhotic subjects.