Jj. Oliveira-silva et al., Cholinesterase activities determination in frozen blood samples: an improvement to the occupational monitoring in developing countries, HUM EXP TOX, 19(3), 2000, pp. 173-177
1 Studies were carried out on rural workers in Brazil to determine the decr
ease in the activity of plasma butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), erythrocyte ch
olinesterase (AChE) associated with exposure to organophosphorus pesticides
(OP). The goal of this work is to help prevent injury to these workers.
2 In developing countries the distance between area of pesticide use and re
ference laboratories is a drawback for analytical techniques, since choline
sterase activity determinations require fresh blood samples. Field methodol
ogies can be a useful alternative to laboratory tests, however they are not
as sensitive as those found in laboratories.
3 The modification of Ellman's Method presented in this paper allows blood
samples to be frozen and maintain enzymatic stability: 7 days for AChE and
3 days for BChE. The proposed method is also more sensitive than Ellman's M
ethod Modified by Magnotti (EMMM).
4 The results suggest that the Ellman Method Modified by Oliveira-Silva (EM
MOS) is valid for monitoring procedures. This method represents an importan
t contribution to the process of monitoring OP exposures, since the evaluat
ions no longer have to be conducted near the site of OP use.