BACKGROUND Organophosphate pesticides act as cholinesterase inhibitors. For those with agricultural exposure to these chemicals, risk of potential exposure-related health effects may be modified by genetic variability in cholinesterase metabolism. Cholinesterase activity is a useful, indirect measurement of pesticide exposure, especially in high-risk individuals such as farmworkers. To understa...

We have developed a succinyldicholine-based assay for serum cholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.8) to help establish whether patients with suspected sensitivity to drugs of this type have enzyme abnormalities that cannot be detected by conventional laboratory techniques. Although the method discriminates between cholinesterase activities of drug-sensitive and nonsensitive people as well as an assay involv...

Several properties of the cholinesterase from Phaseolus aureus Roxb. and of pectin (methyl) esterases from both Phaseolus aureus and Lycopersicon esculentum (L.) Mill. are contrasted. Cholinesterase activity is inhibited by all of the concentrations of NaCl tested, from 0.05 m to 0.9 m, a property which differs sharply from published data pertaining to pectin esterase. Although crude preparatio...

We have evaluated in vitro the potency of 23 oximes to reactivate human erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and plasma butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibited by racemic leptophos-oxon (O-[4-bromo-2,5-dichlorophenyl]-O-methyl phenyl-phosphonate), a toxic metabolite of the pesticide leptophos. Compounds were assayed in concentrations of 10 and 100 μM. In case of leptophos-oxon inhibited AChE,...

OBJECTIVE Food contributes in measurable body burden of the widely used organophosphate pesticides. We designed a randomized controlled open label trial in Mashhad University Hospital in Iran, to study the possible alterations in cholinesterase activity resulting from consuming market melon known to be exposed to diazinon. PATIENTS AND METHODS Fifty-three young healthy volunteers were recruit...

Alzheimer disease is characterized by a loss of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain and a decrease in acetylcholine levels. Currently, cholinesterase inhibitors, drugs that act by inhibiting the enzyme responsible for the hydrolysis of acetylcholine, are the only therapy for the treatment of Alzheimer disease approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The cholinesterase inhibitors hav...

The organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides inhibit cholinesterase, causing an increase of acetylcholine at neuromuscular junctions. Toxicosis due to anticholinesterase compounds can be diagnosed by finding depressed cholinesterase activity in the blood, brain, and/or retina. Cholinesterase activity < 50% of normal has been associated with significant exposure to an anticholinesterase agent...

BACKGROUND Cholinesterase inhibitors are commonly used to treat dementia. These drugs enhance the effects of acetylcholine, and reports suggest they may precipitate bradycardia in some patients. We aimed to examine the association between use of cholinesterase inhibitors and hospitalization for bradycardia. METHODS AND FINDINGS We examined the health care records of more than 1.4 million olde...

We report a two-day-old infant who had a period of apnoea lasting six hours following the intravenous administration of succinylcholine (Sch). The results of her plasma cholinesterase level and dibucaine number indicate a congenital absence of plasma cholinesterase (PChE) enzyme, although both parents and siblings had normal cholinesterase levels and dibucaine numbers. This is believed to be th...

Serum pseudocholinesterase activity in pregnant women was assayed spectrophotometrically using either propionylthiocholine or suxamethonium as substrate. All patients had a normal phenotype as indicated by normal dibucaine and fluoride numbers. However, the mean cholinesterase activity was lower than in the general population. There was a negative correlation between cholinesterase activity and...