Human serum "A"-esterases. Hydrolysis of O,O-dimethyl-2,2-dichlorovinyl phosphate

Some characteristics of the hydrolysis of O,O-dimethyl-2,2 dichlorovinyl phosphate (DDVP) by human serum are reported and compared with the hydrolysis of O,O-diethyl-4-nitrophenyl phosphate (paraoxon) which is a substrate for Paraoxonase, a known "A"-esterase of human serum. When incubated with human serum, DDVP was losing its inhibitory power toward acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The loss of DDVP followed first order kinetics and was proportional to serum dilution. The disappearance of DDVP after incubation with human serum was not due to protein binding. Apparent Km and Vm for the hydrolysis of DDVP were 7.1 mM and 143 nmol.min-1.ml-1. The pH sensitivity, EDTA inhibitory and Ca2+ requirements of DDVP-ase were similar to those of Paraoxonase. DDVP inhibited the Paraoxonase activity and paraoxon inhibited the DDVP-ase activity. Ca2+, Ag+ and Hg2+ were better inhibitors of the Paraoxonase than the DDVP-ase. The rate of heat inactivation was also different; at 55 degrees Paraoxonase inactivated almost completely within 10 min, while DDVP-ase lost only about 10% activity over 1 hr. Consequently, DDVP-ase and Paraoxonase can be differentiated by means of heat sensitivity. The DDVP-ase was normally distributed in a population of 60 individuals, while Paraoxonase is known to show a marked polymorphism.