Paraoxonase (PON1): from toxicology to cardiovascular medicine.

Paraoxonase (PON1) is a liver and plasma enzyme most studied because of its ability to hydrolyze the active metabolites of several organophosphorus insecticides. The discovery that PON1 can also metabolize oxidized phospholipids has spurred research on its possible role in coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis. Additionally, its potential roles in metabolizing pharmaceutical drugs and microbial quorum sensing factors are also being explored. PON1 displays several polymorphisms that influence both its level of expression and its catalytic activity, thus determining the rates at which a given individual will detoxify a specific insecticide, metabolize harmful oxidized lipids, and activate or inactivate specific drugs and quorum sensing factors.