Sensitivity of blood-clotting factors and digestive enzymes to inhibition by organophosphorus pesticides.

Abstract

Organophosphorus pesticide toxicology is normally evaluated in relation to inhibition of cholinesterases (acetyl and butyryl), neuropathy target esterase, and carboxylesterases, with less attention given to other physiologically important hydrolases. This study considers the relative organophosphate sensitivities of the aforementioned serine hydrolases compared with purified blood-clotting factors (thrombin, plasmin, and kallikrein) and digestive enzymes (alpha-chymotrypsin, trypsin, and elastase), assayed under similar conditions. Inhibitors that we examined are organophosphorus insecticides or their activated metabolites (paraoxon, chlorpyrifos oxon, and profenofos) and other toxicants (phenyl saligenin cyclic phosphonate and tribufos) for comparison with values that are found in the literature for the fluorophosphonates (isoflurophate and sarin). Thrombin is the most sensitive blood-clotting factor with IC-50 values of 19 to 160 microM for tribufos, the cyclic phosphonate, isoflurophate, and profenofos; plasmin and kallikrein are less affected (IC-50 >100 microM). Alpha-Chymotrypsin, trypsin, and elastase are most sensitive to the cyclic phosphonate (IC-50 1.3-15 microM) and less so to isoflurophate, sarin, and profenofos (IC-50 values from 3.6 to greater than 100 microM). The cholinesterases, carboxylesterase, and neuropathy target esterase are the most sensitive to inhibition with IC-50 values for the insecticides of less than 0.001 to 0.6, 0.002 to 0.009, and 0.15 to 100 microM, respectively. The generally low potency of these organophosphates for blood-clotting factors and digestive enzymes suggests that associated toxic effects are unlikely at sublethal doses.