Decreased activity of acetylcholine esterase as a biomarker of pesticide exposure in female tea plantation workers

Because of their beneficial effects in controlling pests, pesticides are used worldwide to reduce pests in agricultural fields and commercial gardens, thereby increasing the crop yield. Pesticides are ubiquitous in the environment and besides targeting pests they also affect non-target organisms. This study was undertaken to evaluate the activity of acetylcholine esterase (AChE) inhibition and its associated health effects in female tea plantation workers (TPW). <i>In silico</i> analysis was applied to identify whether pesticide exposure had an increased affinity after binding with the AChE enzyme, and the findings were validated by measuring the AChE activity in the plasma of study subjects by the biochemical analysis. The activity of AChE was found to be considerably compromised in TPW exposed to pesticides. Inhibition of AChE activity may lead to severe adverse health effects, such as cough, fatigue, and headache in TPW exposed to pesticides. Among all pesticides, λ-cyhalothrin, fipronil, and fenazaquine had the highest binding affinity with AChE (-10.098 Kcal/mol, -8.574 Kcal/mol, and -8.507 Kcal/mol, respectively) as compared to the other pesticides and their natural acetylcholine substrate (-4.398 Kcal/mol). Based on <i>in</i> <i>silico</i> results, AChE was found to have the highest binding affinity with λ-cyhalothrin, fipronil, and fenazaquine, and these pesticides could be responsible for the enzyme activity inhibition. Hence, these pesticides may cause more adverse health effects on humans compared to other pesticides. This finding on biomarker role for AChE may aid in the development of effective antidotes against pesticide exposure, thereby faciliating mitigation of negative health effects of pesticides.