Towards Less Toxic Organophosphorus Pesticides: Predicting Equation of Acetylcholinesterase Activity

Abstract

This paper focuses on the applications of multivariate statistical techniques for designing cost-effective, low non-target nerve-damageable organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) used in Indian agriculture. The study was done with regard to the effect of seven OPs on acetyl-cholinesterase (AChE) activity in four different parts of rat brain: hypothalamus (H), striatum (S), cerebellum (CR), and cerebrum (C). Not all the parts of mammalian brain are equally sensitive to the same pesticide as was evident by direct plotting of inverse of AChE activity versus inverse of LD50 (lethal dose), and that of AChE activity versus Pow values. The nature of dependence of AChE activity on the pesticide (Pow i.e., octanol water partition coefficient values) and LD50 was determined by multiple regression analysis (MRA). This was supported by multiple correlation coefficient values, which indicate the measure of efficacy for different predicting equations. In most of the cases, the results appeared satisfactory. Thus, using MRA, model pesticides can be designed which are less toxic to non-target organisms such as mammals.