The objective of this study was to identify
proteins in mouse livers and chicken embryo yolk sac membranes whose quantities were altered by an organophosphorous
insecticide (OPI) treatment and which might be linked, based on their functionality, to the recognized noncholinergic effects of OPI. Mice and fertile chicken eggs were treated with an OPI representative
diazinon. The quantitative changes in mouse liver and chicken embryo yolk sac membrane soluble
proteins caused by
diazinon were determined by two-dimensional electrophoresis.
Proteins whose quantity was affected by
diazinon were identified by the mass spectrometry. In mouse livers, the altered levels of several
enzymes of
glucose metabolism were considered with regards to amelioration of
hyperglycemia due to
diazinon; the reduced levels of
3-hydroxyanthranilate 3,4-dioxygenase to the changes in the
l-tryptophan to
NAD metabolism caused by pyrimidinyl and crotonamide OPI; the reduced levels of
catalase,
peroxiredoxin and
superoxide dismutase to OPI-increased
lipid and/or
kynurenine oxidation, the latter effect resulting also in increased urinary excretion of xanthurenic and kynurenic
acids; and an increase in
glutathione S-
methyltransferase to OPI detoxification. In chicken embryo yolk sac membranes, the reduced availability of
procollagen-proline dioxygenase may be the factor in micromelia caused by OPI in chicken embryos.