Pancuronium causes a powerful and highly selective inhibition of human serum cholinesterase in vitro. The inhibition was studied in serum from 14 individuals of both sexes (5-60 years of age) with normal reactions to suxamethonium. Pancuronium, in a concentration of 2.3 x 10(-7) M, caused a 50% inhibition of the enzymatic hydrolysis of acetylcholine, when this substrate was present in a concen...

Frog skin cholinesterase is largely of the serum (pseudocholinesterase) type. For whole skin, the activity at 10 --1 ~ AcChC1 is 4.9/~l./mg. N/hr. Tela subcutanea isolated by dissection exhibits an activity of 65 #l./mg. N/hr. at 10 --j ~ AcChC1. Since about one-tenth of the nitrogen of the skin is located in the tela subcutanea, it is estimated that more than 90 per cent of the enzyme is assoc...

Nine patients with severe myasthenia gravis, including ocular symptoms, who did not respond to anticholinesterase therapy were given prolonged courses of corticotrophin. In all patients except one there was an initial deterioration, sometimes necessitating assisted respiration, followed by a marked improvement which persisted for many weeks and occasionally months. It is concluded that corticot...

A cholinesterase was purified 36-fold from mung bean (Phaseolus aureus) roots by a combination of differential extraction media and gel filtration. The enzyme could be effectively extracted only by high salt concentration, indicating that it is probably membrane-bound. Methods used for assaying animal cholinesterases were tested, two of which were adapted for use with the bean cholinesterase. T...

AIMS The number of approved drugs for the clinical treatment of Alzheimer disease remains limited. For this reason, there is extensive search for novel therapies. Of these, cholinesterase inhibitors have some proven benefit in slowing the disease progression and still remain the first-line therapeutic approach. In this study, the pro-cognitive effect of four novel tacrine-related inhibitors was...

BACKGROUND Organophosphate pesticides act as cholinesterase inhibitors. For those with agricultural exposure to these chemicals, risk of potential exposure-related health effects may be modified by genetic variability in cholinesterase metabolism. Cholinesterase activity is a useful, indirect measurement of pesticide exposure, especially in high-risk individuals such as farmworkers. To understa...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to measure the economic value of cholinesterase inhibitors when used to treat Alzheimer's disease using the willingness-to-pay (WTP) approach and the framework of cost-benefit analysis. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN A cost-benefit analysis using the WTP approach was employed. The study sample consisted of 28 nonprofessional caregivers of outpatients with mild to moderate...

BACKGROUND Older people with dementia may be particularly susceptible to cognitive impairment associated with anticholinergic and sedative medicines. This impairment may be misattributed to the disease process itself. OBJECTIVE This review examines clinical considerations associated with using anticholinergic and sedative medicines in people with dementia or incipient cognitive impairment. It...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder in which there is a decline of cholinergic function. The symptomatic AD treatment involves the use of ChEIs (cholinesterase inhibitors) as rivastigimine, a dual inhibitor. The human butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is an enzyme that has specific roles in cholinergic neurotransmission and it has been associated with AD. In the serum, BChE is f...