Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors Toxicity

Excerpt

Nerve agents are some of the most deadly and easily employed chemical warfare agents. Given the global threat of terrorism, it is prudent to have a baseline understanding of nerve agents. Some of the more recognizable nerve agents are Sarin (also known as GB), Soman (also known as GD), and VX. Initially developed in the early-to-mid 1900s from chemically similar insecticides, their volatility and potential to be weaponized was exploited during World War II, although never used during the war. More recent examples of nerve agent use include the 1995 Tokyo subway attack with Sarin gas, the 2017 assassination of Kim Jong-Nam with a binary form of VX. More recently the has been the use of "Novichok", or newcomer agents, that are more potent than VX in the attempted assassinations of Sergei Skripal and Alexei Navalny. All the G agents, V agents, and Novichok agents act by inhibition of acetylcholinesterase.