What Are the Applications of Enzymes in Disease Research and Treatment？

With the development of biotechnology in the modern information age, the research, development and utilization of enzymes have become more and more in-depth, and correspondingly, the application of enzymes in medicine has become more and more extensive.

1. The relationship between enzymes and certain diseases
The diseases caused by the lack of enzymes in the human body are mostly congenital or hereditary. For example, albinism is caused by the lack of tyrosine hydroxylase, and patients with broad bean disease or sensitivity to primaquinoline are caused by the lack of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase. Many toxic diseases are almost always caused by the inhibition of certain enzymes. For example, when the commonly used organophosphorus pesticides (such as trichlorfon, dichlorvos, 1059 and dimethoate, etc.) are poisoned, it is because they combine with an OH on the essential group serine of the active center of cholinesterase to make the enzyme inactive.

Cholinesterase can catalyze the hydrolysis of acetylcholine into choline and acetic acid. When cholinesterase is inhibited and inactivated, the hydrolysis of acetylcholine is inhibited, resulting in the accumulation of acetylcholine. A series of poisoning symptoms appear, such as muscle tremors, miosis, sweating, slow heartbeat, etc. Some metal ions cause human poisoning because the metal ions (such as Hg2+) can combine with the essential groups of some enzyme active centers (such as -SH of cysteine) to make the enzyme inactive.

2. Application of enzymes in disease diagnosis
Enzyme activity in healthy people is relatively stable. When certain organs and tissues of the human body are damaged or diseased, certain enzymes are released into blood, urine or body fluids. Such as acute pancreatitis, serum and urine amylase activity were significantly increased. Hepatitis and other causes of liver damage, hepatocyte necrosis or increased permeability, a large amount of transaminase are released into the blood, and serum transaminase is elevated, etc. Therefore, in medicine, the occurrence and development of certain diseases can be understood or determined by measuring the activity of enzymes in urine, blood or body fluids.

3. Application of enzymes in clinical treatment
With the development of science, enzyme therapy has been gradually recognized by people and has been widely valued. The clinical application of various enzyme preparations is more and more common, such as trypsin, chymotrypsin, etc., which can catalyze protein decomposition. This principle has been used in surgical expansion, purification of purulent wounds and the treatment of serosal adhesions in the thoracic and abdominal cavity. In the treatment of myocardial infarction, thrombophlebitis, pulmonary infarction and disseminated intravascular coagulation, streptokinase, plasmin, urokinase, etc. can be used to dissolve blood clots and prevent the formation of thrombus.

Enzymes play a great role in medicine. Some coenzymes, such as coenzyme A and coenzyme Q, can be used for adjuvant therapy of important organs such as the brain, heart, liver, and kidney. In addition, the principle of competitive inhibition of enzymes is also used to synthesize some chemical drugs for bacteriostatic, bactericidal and anti-tumor treatments. For example, sulfonamides and many antibiotics can inhibit the enzymes necessary for the growth of certain bacteria, so they have bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects. Many antitumor drugs can inhibit the enzymes related to nucleic acid or protein synthesis in cells, thereby inhibiting the differentiation and proliferation of tumor cells to fight tumor growth. Thiouracil can inhibit iodase, thereby affecting the synthesis of thyroxine, so it can be used to treat hyperthyroidism.