Carboxylic Esterase and Its Associations With Long-term Effects of Organophosphorus Pesticides

Key words: 
• Carboxylic esterases /
• Organophosphorus pesticides /
• Polymorphism /
• Susceptibility

Abstract: Objective To examine a) the effect of organophosphorus pesticide exposure on activity of carboxylic esterases, namely butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), carboxylesterase (CarbE) and paraoxonase (PonE); and b) the association of polymorphisms of BChE and PonE with individual genetic susceptibility to organophosphorus pesticide exposure. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 75 workers exposed to organophosphorus pesticides and 100 non-exposed controls. The serum activity of these enzymes was measured. Variant forms of BCHE-K, PON-192, and PON-55 were detected. A symptom score was developed as a proxy measure of clinical outcomes. Results Activities of both BChE and CarbE were lower in exposed exposed workers with BCHE-K genotype UU (61 cases), genotype UK (12 cases) and genotype KK (2 cases) was 105.05, 84.42 activity in the exposed workers with PON-192 genotype BB (37), genotype AB (27) and genotype AA (11) was 116.8, 91.2, and 9.20. The symptom score was the highest in individuals with abnormal homozygote for each of the three gene loci. Conclusions Long-term exposure to organophosphorus pesticides can inhibit BChE and CarbE activity, but exerts no inhibitory effect on PonE activity. Different genotypes of BCHE-K, PON-192, and PON-55 may be related to the severity of adverse health effects of organophosphorus pesticide exposure. Implications of potentially higher susceptibility of workers with mutant homozygotes should be evaluated to reduce health risks.