Species differences in the in vitro inhibition of brain acetylcholinesterase and carboxylesterase by mipafox,paraoxon, and soman

Acute intraperitoneal toxicity of mipafox, paraoxon, and soman was highest in chicken, followed by rat, and lowest in frog. Species differences in organophosphorus toxicity were not related to differences in the specific activities of either acetylcholinesterase or carboxylesterase in brain. The sensitivity to inhibition of brain acetylcholinesterase in vitro by the organophosphorus compounds was closely related to the susceptibility of the species to acute organophosphorus poisoning. Both the acute toxicity and the sensitivity of brain acetylcholinesterase to inhibition in vitro by organophosphorus compounds in all the species were in the following order of increasing activity: mipafox < paraoxon < soman. The sensitivity of brain carboxylesterase to inhibition by the organophosphorus compounds were less than that of acetylcholinesterase and it could not be related to species susceptibility to acute organophosphorus toxicity. Paraoxon-insensitive phenyl valerate hydrolase in chicken brain was more sensitive to inhibition by mipafox and soman compared to rat; in chicken the sensitivity of paraoxon-insensitive phenyl valerate hydrolase to inhibition by soman was 9000 times more than that by mipafox, while in rat it was 100 times more. Frog brain had no paraoxon-insensitive phenyl valerate hydrolase activity. No evidence of age dependence was noticed in the specific activities of brain acetylcholinesterase, carboxylesterase, neurotoxic esterase, and paraoxon-insensitive phenyl valerate hydrolase or in the sensitivity of these enzymes to in vitro inhibition by organophosphorus compounds in both rats and chickens.