[Methods for determination of cholinesterase activity]

Cholinesterases hydrolyze acetylcholine and thus they play a key role in a process of cholinergic neurotransmission. Changes in their activities are linked to many diseases (e.g Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, lipid disorders). Thus, it is important to determine their activity in a fast, simply and precise way. In this review, different approaches of studying cholinesterase activities (e.g pH-dependent, spectrophotometric, radiometric, histochemical methods or biosensors) are discussed. Comparisons, advantages or disadvantages of selected methods (e.g most widely used Ellman's assay, extremely sensitive Johnson Russell method or modern technique with golden nanoparticles) are presented. This review enables one to choose a suitable method for determination of cholinesterase activities with respect to laboratory equipment, type of analysis, pH, temperature scale or special conditions.