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Abstract
The most employed insecticides for indoor and agriculture purposes belong to carbamates,
pyrethroid or organophosphates. The chemical structures of these three groups correspond
to carbamic, carboxylic and triphosphoric esters. Technical monographs suggest that
the hydrolysis of ester bonds of carbamates and pyrethroids plays an important role
in the detoxification of these compounds. However, detailed studies about enzymes
hydrolysing carbamates and pyrethroids in vertebrates are not available. Certain carbamate
hydrolysing activities are associated to serum albumin. Phosphotriesterases, being
of an unknown physiological role, hydrolyse (in some cases stereospecifically) organophosphorus
insecticides (OP). Phosphotriesterases have been found in a multitude of species,
from mammals to bacteria. A phosphotriesterase activity, EDTA-resistant, has been
detected in serum albumin. Phosphotriesterases in serum of mammals display polymorphisms.
Phosphotriesterases offer applications in therapy of organophosphorus poisonings,
in biodegradation and bioremedation of organophosphates. Similar studies should be
developed with enzymes hydrolysing pyrethroids and carbamate insecticides. Such studies
will improve the knowledge of the detoxification routes in non-target species and
will help to design specific and safer carbamate and pyrethroid insecticides.