Impaired neuromuscular function by conjoint actions of organophosphorus insecticide metabolites omethoate and cyclohexanol with implications for treatment of respiratory failure.

Background: Ingestion of agricultural organophosphorus insecticides is a significant cause of death in rural Asia. Patients often show acute respiratory failure and/or delayed, unexplained signs of neuromuscular paralysis, sometimes diagnosed as "Intermediate Syndrome". We tested the hypothesis that omethoate and cyclohexanol, circulating metabolites of one agricultural formulation, cause muscle weakness and paralysis.

Polyionic complexes of butyrylcholinesterase and poly-l-lysine-g-poly(ethylene glycol): Comparative kinetics of catalysis and inhibition and in vitro inactivation by proteases and heat.

We previously reported that recombinant human butyrylcholinesterase (rhBChE) complexed with a series of copolymers of poly-l-lysine (PLL) with grafted (polyethylene) glycol (PEG) (i.e., PLL-g-PEG) showed reduced catalytic activity but relatively similar concentration-dependent inactivation of the organophosphorus inhibitor paraoxon.

Altered active zones, vesicle pools, nerve terminal conductivity, and morphology during experimental MuSK myasthenia gravis.

Recent studies demonstrate reduced motor-nerve function during autoimmune muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) myasthenia gravis (MG). To further understand the basis of motor-nerve dysfunction during MuSK-MG, we immunized female C57/B6 mice with purified rat MuSK ectodomain. Nerve-muscle preparations were dissected and neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) studied electrophysiologically, morphologically, and biochemically.

An evaluation of the inhibition of human butyrylcholinesterase and acetylcholinesterase by the organophosphate chlorpyrifos oxon.

Acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.

Concentration-dependent binding of chlorpyrifos oxon to acetylcholinesterase.

The organophosphorus insecticides have been known for many years to cause cholinergic crisis in humans as a result of the inhibition of the critical enzyme acetylcholinesterase. The interactions of the activated, toxic insecticide metabolites (termed oxons) with acetylcholinesterase have been studied extensively for decades. However, more recent studies have suggested that the interactions of certain anticholinesterase organophosphates with acetylcholinesterase are more complex than previously thought since their inhibitory capacity has been noted to change as a function of inhibitor concentration.

Concentration-dependent kinetics of acetylcholinesterase inhibition by the organophosphate paraoxon.

For decades the interaction of the anticholinesterase organophosphorus compounds with acetylcholinesterase has been characterized as a straightforward phosphylation of the active site serine (Ser-203) which can be described kinetically by the inhibitory rate constant k(i). However, more recently certain kinetic complexities in the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase by organophosphates such as paraoxon (O,O-diethyl O-(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate) and chlorpyrifos oxon (O,O-diethyl O-(3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridyl) phosphate) have raised questions regarding the adequacy of the kinetic scheme on which k(i) is based. The present article documents conditions in which the inhibitory capacity of paraoxon towards human recombinant acetylcholinesterase appears to change as a function of oxon concentration (as evidenced by a changing k(i)), with the inhibitory capacity of individual oxon molecules increasing at lower oxon concentrations.

Mefloquine inhibits cholinesterases at the mouse neuromuscular junction.

Mefloquine is effective against drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum. This property, along with its unique pharmacokinetic profile, makes mefloquine a widely prescribed antimalarial drug. However, mefloquine has neurologic effects which offset its therapeutic advantages.

Incorporation of the genetic control of alcohol dehydrogenase into a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model for ethanol in humans.

The assessment of the variability of human responses to foreign chemicals is an important step in characterizing the public health risks posed by nontherapeutic hazardous chemicals and the risk of encountering adverse reactions with drugs. Of the many sources of interindividual variability in chemical response identified to date, hereditary factors are some of the least understood. Physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling linked with Monte Carlo sampling has been shown to be a useful tool for the quantification of interindividual variability in chemical disposition and/or response when applied to biological processes that displayed single genetic polymorphisms.

Continuous system modeling of equilibrium dialysis for determinations of tissue partitioning of parathion and paraoxon.

A tissue/blood partition coefficient, defined as the ratio of tissue chemical concentration to that of the venous outflow of the tissue when at equilibrium, is an important parameter required for physiological based pharmacokinetic models. While many techniques have been developed to quantify tissue/blood partition coefficients for various chemicals, there is no single best approach for their determination. In the current study, equilibrium dialysis of the organophosphorus insecticide parathion and its active metabolite paraoxon was undertaken to assess their partitioning into rat liver.