The most lethal organophosphorus nerve agents (NA), like sarin, soman, agent-VX and Russian-VX, share a methylphosphonate moiety. Pseudomonas diminuta phosphotriesterase (PTE) catalyses the hydrolysis of methylphosphonate NA analogues with a catalytic efficiency orders of magnitude lower than that towards the pesticide paraoxon. With a view to obtaining PTE variants that more readily accept met...

members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult entered the Tokyo subway system and released sarin, a deadly nerve agent. The subway attack was the most deadly assault in an ongoing campaign of terror waged by this mysterious cult. Four years later, with Aum Shinrikyo attempting to rebuild itself, many in Japan and around the world are asking whether the “Supreme Truth Sect” poses a current or future threat....

Our Institute's nuclear, biological, and chemical defense research team continuously investigates and develops preparations for skin decontamination against nerve agents. In this in vivo study, we evaluated skin decontamination efficacy against sarin by a synthetic preparation called Mineral Cationic Carrier (MCC) with known ion exchange, absorption efficacy and bioactive potential. Mice were t...

In the present paper we show a comprehensive in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo study on hydrolytic detoxification of nerve agent and pesticide OPs (organophosphates) catalysed by purified hBChE (human butyrylcholinesterase) in combination with novel non-pyridinium oxime reactivators. We identified TAB2OH (2-trimethylammonio-6-hydroxybenzaldehyde oxime) as an efficient reactivator of OP-hBChE conjug...

Sarin attacks occurred both in Matsumoto and in Tokyo in 1994-1995; more than 15 people died because of such attacks. The acute toxic effect of Sarin nerve gas (organophosphorus: OP) produces miotic pupils as well as reduced cholinesterase (ChE) activities, which are nicotinic and muscarinic signs. A cholinergic sign may not be the sole mechanism of OP toxicity. Suzuki et al (1) described the f...

The effectiveness of physostigmine and atropine pretreatment against the lethal effects of sarin was studied in rats given lethal subcutaneous injections (130 micrograms/kg) of the organophosphate. Pretreatment of these animals with physostigmine 30 min prior to injection of sarin reduced mortality to 28% and when the drug coadministered with atropine only 4% of the animals died. The latter tre...

Nerve gas organophosphates like sarin are likely to be used in urban terrorism, leading to widespread exposures of pregnant women and young children. Here, we established a model for sarin neurobehavioral teratogenicity in the developing chick so as to explore the consequences of apparently subtoxic sarin exposure and the mechanisms underlying synaptic and behavioral deficits. Chicken eggs were...

Investigates the effects of two well-known carbamate~, physostigmine and pyridostiginine against organophosphorous compound and nerve gas toxicity. Physostigmine pretreatment for 30 min enhanced the survival time of rats against DFP intoxication whereas it did not have any effect with sarin poisoning. However, pyridostigmine pretreatment did not produce any significant effect on survival time e...

The five-coordinate compound, Salen((t)Bu)Al(Ac), prepared in situ from Salen((t)Bu)AlBr and NH4Ac, forms Lewis acid-base adducts in aqueous solution with the G-type nerve agents, Sarin and Soman, and the VX hydrolysis product, ethylmethylphosphonate (EMPA). The resulting compounds, [Salen((t)Bu)Al(NA)](+)[Ac] (-) (with NA = Sarin, Soman, and EMPA) are sufficiently stable to be identified by ES...