In vitro comparison of the acetylcholinesterase inhibition caused by V- and A-series nerve agents' surrogates

Nerve agents (NA) pose as a great risk in the modern world. NA from the V-series, such as VX, are currently recognized as the most toxic among those compounds. However, the emergence of new classes of toxicants recently included in the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), such as the A-series NA, a class of organo-phosphorus compounds related to phosphoramidates, pose a new source of concern due to the lack of information. In order advance in the investigation on the toxicity of such toxic chemicals, we performed in vitro studies to compare representatives of the V-and A-series using affordable surrogates. Results suggest a similar inhibition potency between both agents.

Automated summary

This study compared the toxicity of representatives from the V and A series nerve agents through in vitro experiments, and found similar inhibition potency between both agents.