Exposure to chemical nerve agents,
pesticides and certain drugs (anesthetics, cocaine and
therapeutical drugs) reduces the activity of red blood cell
(RBC) acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The RBC-AChE can be used
as a biomarker to monitor suppressed and or increased AChE
function in the peripheral and central nervous system (9).
Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is one of
the most important enzymes involved in nerve transmission.
The enzyme is bound to cellular membranes of excitable
tissue (synaptic junction, endoplasmic reticulum, etc)
1-3. Acute toxicity to humans and animals through
inhibition of AChE by both nerve gases and an important
class of pesticides has long been a field of intensive
scientific investigation 4,5.
AChE inhibitors have also been used clinically as
Alzheimer’s treatments (e.g., tacrine (tetrahydroaminoacridine))
6 and are the
subject of increasing interest in various disease processes
and treatment strategies 7,8.
However, both environmental detection of AChE inhibitors and
development of modulators of AChE enzymatic activity as
drugs have been hampered by the difficulty and complexity of
the current assay methods.
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