Malathion species differences

Recall in our discussion of routes of biotransformation we considered species differences using malathion as an example. Insects convert this compound to its toxic oxidation product more quickly than they detoxify it by hydrolysis. Humans do the conversions in the opposite priority. However, the insects which might be different from the general population and perform detoxification reactions at a faster rate would survive pesticide application and their "resistant" genes would be selectively passed on to the next generations. 

Advantage of species differences in metabolism was taken with the synthesis of malathion which is attacked by esterases in mammals and excreted rapidly as the diacid before conversion of the innocuous thio-phosphate to the toxic phosphate. Insects have very low levels of esterases, and metabolism to the lethal oxo metabolite can occur unimpeded (Figure 20). 

The blood enzymes appear to act as buffers for the enzymes in the tissue. There is little inhibition of tissue enzyme until much of the blood enzyme is inhibited. The RBC-ChE appears to be more important than the plasma enzyme in this regard. In two studies,35,36 a small dose of DFP in humans inhibited about 90% of the plasma enzyme activity but only 15% to 20% of RBC-ChE activity. Symptoms correlated with depression of RBC-ChE, but not with depression of BuChE (see the Central Nervous System and Behavior section below). In humans, some pesticides, such as parathion,79 systox,37 and malathion,20 also preferentially inhibit the plasma enzyme, while others, such as dimefox39 and mevinphos,40 initially bind with the RBC enzyme. In animals, there appears to be a species difference, inasmuch as parathion preferentially inhibits RBC-ChE in rats and the plasma enzyme in dogs.20... 

Amidases can be found in all kinds of organisms, including insects and plants [24], The distinct activities of these enzymes in different organisms can be exploited for the development of selective insecticides and herbicides that exhibit minimal toxicity for mammals. Thus, the low toxicity in mammals of the malathion derivative dimethoate (4.44) can be attributed to a specific metabolic route that transforms this compound into the nontoxic acid (4.45) [25-27]. However, there are cases in which toxicity is not species-selective. Indeed, in the preparation of these organophosphates, some contaminants that are inhibitors of mammalian carboxylesterase/am-idase may be present [28]. Sometimes the compound itself, and not simply one of its impurities, is toxic. For example, an insecticide such as phos-phamidon (4.46) cannot be detoxified by deamination since it is an amidase inhibitor [24],... 

Different species have developed different pathways and this can have a significant impact on their use. Consider the metabolism of the insecticide malathion. 

Hydrolytic reactions. There are numerous different esterases responsible for the hydrolysis of esters and amides, and they occur in most species. However, the activity may vary considerably between species. For example, the insecticide malathion owes its selective toxicity to this difference. In mammals, the major route of metabolism is hydrolysis to the dicarboxylic acid, whereas in insects it is oxidation to malaoxon (Fig. 5.12). Malaoxon is a very potent cholinesterase inhibitor, and its insecticidal action is probably due to this property. The hydrolysis product has a low mammalian toxicity (see chap. 7). 

The onset of symptoms depends on the particular organophosphorus compound, but is usually relatively rapid, occurring within a few minutes to a few hours, and the symptoms may last for several days. This depends on the metabolism and distribution of the particular compound and factors such as lipophilicity. Some of the organophosphorus insecticides such as malathion, for example (chap. 5, Fig. 12), are metabolized in mammals mainly by hydrolysis to polar metabolites, which are readily excreted, whereas in the insect, oxidative metabolism occurs, which produces the cholinesterase inhibitor. Metabolic differences between the target and nontarget species are exploited to maximize the selective toxicity. Consequently, malathion has a low toxicity to mammals such as the rat in which the LD50 is about 10 g kg-1. 

The following are some examples Phase 1 aromatic hydroxylation of aniline varies with species, the metabolism of malathion differs between mammals and insects, and the metabolism of amphetamine varies between different mammalian species. 

The hydrolysis of esters by esterases and of amides by amidases constitutes one of the most common enzymatic reactions of xenobiotics in humans and other animal species. Because both the number of enzymes involved in hydrolytic attack and the number of substrates for them is large, it is not surprising to observe interspecific differences in the disposition of xenobiotics due to variations in these enzymes. In mammals the presence of carboxylesterase that hydrolyzes malathion but is generally absent in insects explains the remarkable selectivity of this insecticide. As with esters, wide differences exist between species in the rates of hydrolysis of various amides in vivo. Fluoracetamide is less toxic to mice than to the American cockroach. This is explained by the faster release of the toxic fluoroacetate in insects as compared with mice. The insecticide dimethoate is susceptible to the attack of both esterases and amidases, yielding nontoxic products. In the rat and mouse, both reactions occur, whereas sheep liver contains only the amidases and that of guinea pig only the esterase. The relative rates of these degradative enzymes in insects are very low as compared with those of mammals, however, and this correlates well with the high selectivity of dimethoate. 

The diversity between the toxic effects of organophosphates, carbamates, or pyrethroids could partly be due to the existing variability in the levels of CarbE activity, which is related to species, strain, and gender differences. For example, rabbit liver CarbE is more sensitive to inhibition by malathion and isoma-lathion than pig liver CarbE some strains of rats and mice have higher CarbE activity than others and female rat plasma has higher CarbE activity than male rat plasma. 

This example illustrates two important points. First, malathion is a selectively toxic compound in that it kills insects without harming humans. Second, different species may metabolise drugs in different ways and extreme care must be exercised when extrapolating results from one species to another, notably from animal toxicity data to humans. 

Such a pathway does, however, exist in insects. In the latter species, parathion and malathion act as prodrugs. They are metabolized by oxidative desulfurization to give the active anticholinesterases which irreversibly bind to the insects acetylcholinesterase enzymes and lead to death. In mammals, the same compounds are metabolized in a different way to give inactive compounds which are then excreted (Fig. 11.59). 

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