Association of genetic polymorphisms of telomere binding proteins with cholinesterase activity in omethoate-exposed workers

Omethoate, an organophosphorous pesticide, can cause a variety of health effects, especially the decrease of cholinesterase activity. The aim of this study is to explore the association of genetic polymorphisms of telomere binding proteins with cholinesterase activity in omethoate-exposed population. Cholinesterase activities in whole blood, red blood cell and plasma were detected using acetylthiocholine and dithio-bis-(nitrobenzoic acid) method; Genetic Genotyping of POT1 rs1034794, POT1 rs10250202, TERF1 rs3863242 and TERT rs2736098 were performed with PCR-RFLP. The cholinesterase activities of whole blood, red blood cells and plasma in exposure group are significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis indicates that exposure group (b = − 1.016, P < 0.001), agender (b = 0.365, P < 0.001), drinking (b = 0.271, P = 0.004) and TERF1rs3863242 (b = − 0.368, P = 0.016) had an impact on cholinesterase activities. The results suggest that individual carrying AG+GG genotypes in TERF1 gene rs3863242 polymorphism were susceptible to damage in cholinesterase induced by omethoate.