Abstract
This chapter discusses cholinesterases, their importance in understanding the toxicity of organophosphate ester (OP) and carbamate (CB) pesticides, and their application to risk assessment. Cholinesterases (ChEs) are specialized carboxylic ester hydrolases that break down esters of choline. Two of special concern to the pesticide toxicologist are acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase, also known as nonspecific cholinesterase or pseudocholinesterase. ChEs are classed among the B-esterases, enzymes inhibited by OPs and possessing a serine catalytic site. The specific course of research on ChEs parallels, and indeed has often been at the cutting edge of, some of the advances of the mid-20th and early 21st century in biochemistry, pharmacology, physiology, cell biology, and toxicology. The rapid development of cDNA microarrays suggests that studies of the impact of anticholinergic chemicals will soon be routinely conducted on the level of responsive genes. The advent of probabilistic methods of assessing risk of pesticides to human health and wildlife will create opportunities to apply sophisticated methods of determining risk from anticholinergic agents based on the population distributions of exposures and effects. The simplicity of synthesizing and deploying anti-ChEs as weapons of war and terror is likely to be as tempting to governments and to terrorists of the 21st century as it was to some in the 20th century.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call