| Summary: | Plasma and erythrocyte cholinesterase (ChE) activities of male farm workers exposed to pesticides during their routine work were lower than those of unexposed control subjects by 14 and 4%, respectively. Diphenhydramine and Carbaryl inhibited plasma and erythrocyte ChE activities in vitro in pesticide-exposed and unexposed subjects. The percentages of in vitro ChE inhibition induced by carbaryl in the plasma and erythrocytes of unexposed controls ranged between 47-85% and 19-47%, respectively, whereas they were 35-60% and 3-12% in the pesticide-exposed group, respectively. In vitro pretreatment of plasma and erythrocyte ChE with diphenhydramine (20 μM) significantly reduced the inhibitory effect of carbaryl (10 μM) on them by 18% and 10%, respectively. In conclusion, subjects exposed to pesticides during their routine work in agriculture are at risk of reduced blood ChE activity. Diphenhydramine appeared to partially protect blood ChE in vitro from additional carbaryl-induced enzyme inhibition in both pesticide-exposed and unexposed subjects.
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