Hair Follice as a Source For Biomarkers Associated With Low-Level Vapor Exposure to GF and VX in the Rat And Minipig Model

摘要

During the aftermath of the 1995 subway terrorist attack in Tokyo, the thousands of individuals who sought treatment completely overwhelmed resources at local emergency rooms. Of these patients, those who thought they had been exposed to nerve agent outnumbered those who were truly exposed by a ratio of five to one. The most common test for OP compound exposure is measurement of blood acetylcholinesterase. Unfortunately, this blood test is neither rapid, nor can it provide a uniformly reliable assessment of low-level exposure to organophosphate compound in this scenario. Thus, a rapid, reliable, and non-invasive test would be invaluable for the effective management of medical resources in the event of a similar civilian terrorist incident in the U.S. In order to address this need, we have begun a series of experiments designed to identify protein biomarkers in follicles (hair and whisker) of animals exposed to low levels of OP nerve agents.