J Appl Biomed 7:93-99, 2009 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2009.009

Is a high dose of Huperzine A really suitable for pretreatment against high doses of soman?

Jana Žďárová Karasová^1,*, Jiří Bajgar¹, Ladislav Novotný², Kamil Kuča^1,2,3

¹ Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

² Center of Advanced Studies, Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

³ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, J. E. Purkyně University, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic

Huperzine A (Hup A) is a reversible AChE inhibitor that crosses the blood-brain barrier. It is presently approved for, or is in a course of clinical trials for, the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. This compound has also been successfully tested for the pretreatment of organophosphate poisoning. Organophosphate nerve agents are potent irreversible inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase in the central and also in the peripheral compartment. In this study Hup A in a higher dose (500 μg/kg) was tested as a prophylaxis against a high, mainly centrally acting, nerve agent (soman). According to the results obtained, Hup A in this dosage was not able to protect AChE against soman in both the peripheral and central compartments. The effect of Hup A and soman was found to be additive and all animal subjects died.

Keywords: Huperzine A; soman; brain; nerve agent; acetylcholinesterase; pretreatment

Received: February 12, 2009; Revised: March 27, 2009; Published: July 31, 2009  Show citation