PON1 Inter-individual Enzymatic activity variation as a predictor of OPC toxicity in agricultural workers presented to PCCASU, Egypt

Organophosphate compounds result in numerous toxicities because of their widespread usage and easy accessibility especially in the developing world’s agricultural communities. PON1 activity towards OPCs shows inter individual variations. Isoforms of the enzyme differing in their PON1 activity result from amino acid substitutions at positions 192 which is glutamine (Q) to arginine (R) and at 55 which is leucine (L) to methionine (M) thus rendering the identifi cation of individuals’ PON1 all enzymes of value in treatment of patients suffering from OP intoxication The aim of this work is to study the infl uence of genetic variation of PON1 gene on paraoxonase enzyme activity in cases of acute organ phosphorus compound poisoning. These compounds exert their toxicity primarily through inhibiting acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) enzyme. This study was carried out at the Poison Control Center (PCC) of Ain Shams University Hospitals, Cairo, Egypt. Paraoxonase enzyme activity: It was determined according to the method of Furlong et al. (1988). Paraoxonase genotyping: Genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral white blood cells by an automated isolation method using the MagNA Pure LC Total Nucleic Acid Isolation Kit. From this study it is obvious that PON1 coding could be a predictor of individual sensitivity to OPC especially among risk groups as agricultural workers and workers in OP factories.</p