Chemico-biological interactions
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Chem. Biol. Interact. · Sep 2010
ReviewAssessment of neuromuscular dysfunction during poisoning by organophosphorus compounds.
Dysfunction of respiratory muscles is a life-threatening complication in poisoning by organophosphorus compounds (OPs). It is both of central and peripheral origin due to impaired cholinergic signalling upon inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The dysfunction at neuromuscular synapses is not amenable to anticholinergics and remains a therapeutic challenge. ⋯ The results obtained with paraoxon favourably correlate with data from clinical findings of parathion-poisoned patients where the correlation of neuromuscular transmission with the activity of erythrocyte AChE could be established. In conclusion, a variety of methods are available to follow the microscopic reactions occurring at the synaptic level. Due to the lack of clinical data with different OPs, e.g. nerve agents, well designed animal experiments, reflecting the human situation as close as possible, are indispensable for the development of new drugs against the deleterious OP effects.
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Chem. Biol. Interact. · Sep 2010
Comparative StudyComparison of human and guinea pig acetylcholinesterase sequences and rates of oxime-assisted reactivation.
Poisoning via organophosphorus (OP) nerve agents occurs when the OP binds and inhibits the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE). This enzyme is responsible for the metabolism of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) which transmits signals between nerves and several key somatic regions. When AChE is inhibited, the signal initiated by ACh is not properly terminated. ⋯ Several amino acid differences were noted, and the predicted locations of these differences were mapped onto a structural model of human AChE. To examine directly how these differences affect oxime-mediated reactivation of AChE after inhibition by OPs, human and guinea pig red blood cell ghosts were prepared and used as sources of AChE, and the relative capacity of several different oximes to reactivate each OP-inhibited AChE were determined. The differences we report between human and guinea pig AChE raise additional concerns about the suitability of the guinea pig as an appropriate small animal model to approximate human responses to OP poisoning and therapies.