In vitro degradation of soman in blood of mouse, guinea pig, dog and human

AIM To study the relationship between the capability of soman detoxification of blood and the detoxifying enzyme activities in blood of different species. METHODS By measuring residual levels of soman and activities of detoxifying enzymes. RESULTS The degradation of soman by plasma was more powerful than that by its own red blood cells, the rank order of soman degradation in plasma was mouseguinea pighumandog. The plasma carboxylesterase in rodents played a very significant role in inactivating soman due largely to its comparatively activity and large number of binding site. While, the plasma carboxylesterase in dog and human did not play an important role, as did in rodents. In contrast, the cholinesterase in blood of dog and human served as the major elimination pathways of soman. CONCLUSION The differences in the amount of esteratic site available for soman detoxification and the binding rate between soman and detoxifying enzymes might be responsible for the species variation of detoxification capability in blood.