EFFECT OF CARBON TETRACHLORIDE UPON ARYLESTERASES IN MICE

Abstract

Early works by Augustinsson (1-4) demonstrated that three types of esterases exist in vertebrate plasma in regard to substrate specificity and susceptibility to selective inhibitors, and he classified them into arylesterases [EC 3. 1. 1. 2], aliesterases (carboxylesterases) [EC 3.1.1.1] and cholinesterases [EC 3.1.1.8]. However, physiological and clinical significance that the altered activities of these esterases imply is still obscure. Recently, Takahashi et al. (5) suggested that decrease in the activity of phenyl acetate esterase (corresponding to arylesterases, according to the Augustinsson's classification) was correlated with the degree of liver damage and that, clinically, the activity of the enzyme in serum decreased greatly in the case of liver cirrhosis. In the present paper, changes in the total activity and the electrophoretic pattern of arylesterases were studied in CCl₄-induced mouse liver injury using β-naphthyl acetate as substrate.