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Normal range of human red blood cell acetylcholinesterase activity
Daniel E Arrieta1, Stephen A McCurdy, John D Henderson
1Department of Animal Science, University of California-Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA.
Abstract:
The normal range of human erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase (RBC-AChE) activity is important when monitoring exposure to pesticides and chemical warfare agents. A modification of Michel's method measured RBC-AChE activities from 991 individuals (818 males and 173 females) presumably unexposed to nerve agents. Median age was 42 (range, 18-76) years. RBC-AChE (mean +/- SD) was 0.74 +/- 0.06 delta pH units/hour. Multivariate linear regression showed an association with age (slope +0.0008 delta pH units/hour for each year; P < 0.001) unlikely to be clinically significant. The findings represent the largest study of human RBC-AChE to date providing measures of central tendency and variation.
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