Tissues from adult Syrian hamsters were studied with immunoperoxidase techniques using polyclonal antibodies to three antioxidant enzymes (copper, zinc and manganese forms of superoxide dismutase, and catalase). Tissues from labile organs, in which cell renewal is prominent (uterus, intestine, and transitional epithelium of the urinary tract), showed strong antioxidant enzyme immunostaining in differentiated cells but not in stem cells. In stable organs, in which cell renewal occurs at a high rate only in response to injury (kidney and adrenal), each cell type showed a specific pattern of antioxidant enzyme immunostaining. In permanent organs (brain and heart), antioxidant enzymes were regionally specific markers. Axons of the cerebellum showed more intense antioxidant enzyme staining than those of the cerebral cortex; in the heart, atria stained more intensely than ventricles. Germ cells of the testis resembled cell renewal systems in their antioxidant enzyme-immunostaining pattern: spermatogonia were negative, whereas spermatozoa were strongly positive. The tubules of the kidney showed no antioxidant enzyme immunostaining until after birth. Our results suggest that there is a prominent role for antioxidant enzymes in cell differentiation during development and cell renewal.