Carbonic anhydrase (CA) is a widespread metalloenzyme playing a pivotal role in several physiological processes. Many studies have demonstrated the in vitro and in vivo sensitivity of CA to the exposure to several classes of pesticides in both humans and wildlife. This review aims to analyze and to discuss the literature available in this field, providing a comprehensive view useful to foresee perspectives for the development of novel CA-based pesticide biomarkers. The analysis of the available data highlighted the ability of several pesticide molecules to interact directly with the enzyme in humans and wildlife and to inhibit CA activity in vitro and in vivo, with possible alterations of key physiological functions. The analysis disclosed key areas of further research and, at the same time, identified some perspectives for the development of novel CA-based sensitive biomarkers to pesticide exposure, suitable to be used in several fields from human biomonitoring in occupational and environmental medicine to environmental monitoring on non-target species.
Keywords: biomarker; carbonic anhydrase; enzymatic inhibition; fungicides; herbicides; pesticides; protein adducts.