Bioelectrochemical analysis of neuropathy target esterase activity in blood

Bioelectrochemical analysis of neuropathy target esterase (NTE) and its inhibitors is based on the combination of the NTE-catalyzed hydrolysis of phenyl valerate and phenol detection by a tyrosinase carbon-paste electrode. The use of the tyrosinase electrode improves 10-fold the sensitivity of NTE detection in comparison with a spectrophotometric method. The tyrosinase electrode was found to be suitable for measurements in whole human blood where spectrophotometric detection is considerably restricted. The specificity of NTE in blood for mipafox and di-2-propyl phosphorofluoridate was close to that for neuronal NTE. The NTE-like activity in blood was determined to be 0.19 +/- 0.02 nmol/min/mg of protein.