Inhibited AChE cannot hydrolyze the neurotransmitter acetylcholine leading to its build-up at the cholinergic synapses and creating an acute cholinergic crisis.
OP nerve agents primarily act by inhibiting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, causing an acute cholinergic crisis; death usually occurs through respiratory failure.
They are called neurotoxic agents because of their action on the nervous system, inhibiting the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme and resulting in a cholinergic crisis.
Following pretreatment with galantamine, huperzine or pyridostigmine, monkeys were challenged with the median lethal dose of soman at the time of peak acetylcholinesterase inhibition and evaluated for overt signs of soman toxicity (cholinergic crisis, convulsions).
These compounds potently inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE), the enzyme that inactivates acetylcholine at neuronal synapses, and acute exposure to high OP levels can cause cholinergic crisis in humans and animals.