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Organophosphorus compounds (OP) are bound to human butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and endogenous or exogenous BChE may act as a stoichiometric scavenger. Adequate amounts of BChE are required to minimize toxic OP effects. Simultaneous administration of BChE and oximes may transfer the enzyme into a pseudo-catalytic scavenger. The present study was initiated to determine the reactivation kinetics of 31 structurally different bispyridinium oximes with paraoxon-, tabun- and cyclosarin-inhibited human BChE. Human plasma was incubated with OP and the reactivation of inhibited BChE was tested with multiple oxime concentrations followed by nonlinear regression analysis for the determination of reactivity, affinity and overall reactivation constants. The generated data indicate that the tested oximes have a low-to-negligible reactivating potency with paraoxon- and tabun-inhibited human BChE. Several oximes showed a moderate-to-high potency with cyclosarin-inhibited BChE. Thus, the present study indicates that bispyridinium oximes are obviously not suitable to serve as reactivators of human BChE inhibited by different OP and it is doubtful whether further modifications of the bispyridinium template will lead to more potent reactivators. In the end, novel structures of oxime and non-oxime reactivators are urgently needed for the development of human BChE into an effective pseudo-catalytic scavenger.

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Chronic wounds, skin blisters, and ulcers are the result of skin exposure to the alkylating agent sulfur mustard (SM). One potential pathomechanism is senescence, which causes permanent growth arrest with a pro-inflammatory environment and may be associated with a chronic wound healing disorder. SM is known to induce chronic senescence in human mesenchymal stem cells which are subsequently unable to fulfill their regenerative function in the wound healing process. As dermal fibroblasts are crucial for cutaneous wound healing by being responsible for granulation tissue formation and synthesis of the extracellular matrix, SM exposure might also impair their function in a similar way. This study, therefore, investigated the SM sensitivity of primary human dermal fibroblasts (HDF) by determining the dose–response curve. Non-lethal concentrations LC1 (3 µM) to LC25 (65 µM) were used to examine the induction of senescence. HDF were exposed once to 3 µM, 13 µM, 24 µM, 40 µM or 65 μM SM, and were then cultured for 31 days. Changes in morphology as well as at the genetic and protein level were investigated. For the first time, HDF were shown to undergo senescence in a time- and concentration-dependent manner after SM exposure. They developed a characteristic senescence phenotype and expressed various senescence markers. Proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines were significantly altered in SM-exposed HDF as part of a senescence-associated secretory phenotype. The senescent fibroblasts can thus be considered a contributor to the SM-induced chronic wound healing disorder and might serve as a new therapeutic target in the future.

No abstract