Promotion of Peripheral Axonopathies by Certain Esterase Inhibitors *

Abstract

Certain esterase inhibitors were found to exacerbate the clinical signs of polyneuropathy caused by various neurotoxic compounds and to delay the recovery from nerve crush. This phenomenon is referred to as promotion of axonopathies. The molecular target of promotion has not yet been identified. However, all known promoters are also inhibitors of neuropathy target esterase (NTE), the putative target of organophosphate neuropathy, but it has been shown that the target of promotion is unlikely to be NTE. Available data suggest that promoters might affect a target and a mechanism present in the nervous system that is not activated by axonal lesions. Promotion may be important to understand the physiological mechanism of nerve damage and repair. This finding also implies a changing perspective for the risk assessment of exposures to esterase inhibitors, some of which are used as pesticides and might be promoters.