抄録
Organophosphorus compounds themselves or their activation products in the animal body exert toxic and insecticidal actions due te the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase and other enzymes, while they are degraded by various esterases and detoxified. Cumulative actions of these activating and decomposing enzymes on the organophosphorus compounds are supposed, therefore, to decide the degree of their mammalian toxicity. Taking into consideration of the above, this paper deals with the results of the investigations on the activity, substrate specificity, and various other characteristics of the enzymes that participate in the metabolism of organophosphorus insecticides from the standpoint of comparative biochemistry, whose implications toward the mammalian toxicity are also discussed.
