Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.1.1.8 (cholinesterase)
 12,691 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A quantitative method for cholinesterases in amniotic fluid using the non-specific substrate alpha naphthyl acetate and the cholinesterase-specific inhibitor, eserine, is described. This assay was used to test 671 samples of amniotic fluid. The diagnoses for fetal ONTDs, based on the levels of AChE + ChE, were compared with those made for the same samples by the AFP method. Correct diagnoses were made by both methods with amniotic fluid from 35 women carrying fetuses with ONTDs and 631 carrying normal fetuses. There were five false-positive test results for normal fetuses by both methods when the cut-off points were 5 standard deviations above the mean for AFP and above the upper limit of the normal range (7.5 milliunits) for cholinesterase (AChE + ChE). None of the false-positive samples from either method had the acetylcholinesterase band of activity characteristic of ONTDs after gel electrophoresis. In addition to the above 671 samples, 37 pregnancies with serious fetal abnormalities other than ONTDs were tested. Two were identified by both the AFP and AChE + ChE methods, two more by AFP assay and one other by the AChE + ChE assay.
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PMID:Measurement of cholinesterases in amniotic fluid using alpha naphthyl acetate as substrate: a possible initial test for prenatal diagnosis of open neural tube defects. 618 37

The usefulness of a cholinesterase assay and electrophoresis in the prenatal diagnosis of neural tube defects was investigated in amniotic fluids from 1,512 women. The assay used a alpha-naphthyl acetate as substrate and measured the combined activity of the enzymes acetylcholinesterase (AChE, E.C. 3.1.1.7) and cholinesterase (ChE, E.C. 3.1.1.8); the activity of both enzymes was raised in amniotic fluid from women carrying open NTDs. The alpha-naphthyl acetate assay distinguished fetuses with neural tube defects from normal fetuses more effectively than assays using acetylthiocholine as substate. A perfect score could be obtained on the sample tested when both enzyme assay and electrophoresis were done on those samples with activity greater than or equal to 4 mU. There was no correlation between gestational age between 13-21 weeks and activity of AChE + ChE (r = 0.03). The electrophoretic band of AChE activity proved to be a valuable diagnostic adjunct to both AFP or the AChE + ChE assay. A similar band or AChE activity was seen in adult brain and intestine but not in kidney, heart, liver, or lung, or in sera from women carrying normal or NTD fetuses.
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PMID:Prenatal diagnosis of neural tube defects using the cholinesterases. 664 92