Identification of acylcholine acyl-hydrolase with carboxylic ester-hydrolase in human serum.

The relationship between pseudocholine esterase [acylcholine acyl-hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.8] and non-specific esterase [carboxylic ester-hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.1] in human serum was investigated. The purified preparation (purified 500-fold) which had both pseudocholine esterase and non-specific esterase activities, was found to give a single band with faint tailing on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The ratio of the specific activity of pseudocholine esterase to that of non-specific esterase remained essentially the same during the purification procedures. Furthermore, the pseudocholine esterase was demonstrated to be identical with the non-specific esterase by immunochemical studies. All these results suggest that activities of pseudocholine esterase and non-specific esterase in human serum derive from the same enzyme molecule. Observation of Yoshida-cho in Ehime after the application of organophosphorus insecticide supported our results: the activity of pseudocholine esterase was found to be reduced with a concomitant decrease in the activity of non-specific esterase. Based on these results, the physiological significance of the esterase is discussed.