Genetic factors in susceptibility: Serum PON1 variation between individuals and species

In mammals, serum paraoxonase (PON1) is tightly associated with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles. In human populations, PON1 exhibits a substrate dependent activity polymorphism determined by an Arg/Gln (R/Q) substitution at amino acid residue 192. The physiological role of this protein appears to be involvement in the metabolism of oxidized lipids. Several studies have suggested that the PON1(R192) allele may be a risk factor in coronary artery disease. PON1 also plays an important role in the metabolism of organophosphates including insecticides and nerve agents. The PON1(R192) isoform hydrolyzes paraoxon rapidly, but diazoxon, soman and satin slowly compared with the PON1(Q192) isoform. Both PON1 isoforms hydrolyze phenylacetate at approximately the same rate, while PON1(R192) hydrolyzes chlorpyrifos oxon slightly faster than PONQ192. Animal model studies involving injection of purified rabbit PON1 into mice clearly demonstrated the ability of PON1 to protect cholinesterases from inhibition by OP compounds. The consequence of having low PON1 levels has been addressed with toxicology studies in PON1 knockout mice. These mice showed dramatically increased sensitivity to chlorpyrifos oxon, diazoxon and some increased sensitivity to the respective parent compounds. These observations are consistent with earlier studies that showed a good correlation between high rates of OP hydrolysis by serum PON1 and resistance to specific OP compounds. They are also consistent with the observations that newborns have an increased sensitivity to OP toxicity, due in part to their not expressing adult PON1 levels for week's to months after birth, depending on the species. Together, these studies point out the importance of considering the genetic variability of PON1(192) isoforms and levels as well as the developmental time course of PON1 appearance in serum in developing risk assessment models.