Characteristics of the Fatty Acid Composition in Elderly Patients with Occupational Pathology from Organophosphate Exposure

Background/Objectives: The delayed effects of organophosphate poisoning may manifest years after exposure, often masked by age-related diseases. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to identify the biochemical “trace” that could remain in patients decades after poisoning. We determined a wide range of biochemical parameters, along with the spectrum of esterified and non-esterified fatty acids (EFAs and NEFAs, respectively), in the blood plasma of a cohort of elderly patients diagnosed with occupational pathology (OP) due to (sub)chronic exposure to organophosphates in the 1980s. Methods: Elderly patients with and without a history of exposure to organophosphates were retrospectively divided into two groups: controls (n = 59, aged 73 ± 4, men 29% and women 71%) and those with OP (n = 84, aged 74 ± 4, men 29% and women 71%). The period of neurological examination and blood sampling for subsequent analysis was from mid-2022 to the end of 2023. Determination of the content of biomarkers of metabolic syndrome, NEFAs, and EFAs in blood plasma was performed by HPLC-MS/MS and GC-MS. Results: The medical histories of the examined elderly individuals with OP and the aged control group included common age-related diseases. However, patients with OP more often had hepatitis, gastrointestinal diseases, polyneuropathy, and an increased BMI. Analysis of metabolic biomarkers revealed, in the OP group, a decrease in the concentrations of 3-hydroxybutyrate (p < 0.05), 2-hydroxybutyrate (p < 0.0001), and acetyl-L-carnitine (p < 0.001) and the activity of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) (p < 0.05), but an increase in the esterase activity of albumin (p < 0.05). Correlation analysis revealed significant relationships between albumin esterase activity and arachidonic acid concentrations in the OP group (0.64, p < 0.0001). A study of a wide range of fatty acids in patients with OP revealed reciprocal relationships between EFAs and NEFAs. A statistically significant decrease in concentration was shown for esters of margaric, stearic, eicosadienoic, eicosatrienoic, arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic fatty acids. A statistically significant increase in concentration was shown for non-esterified heptadecenoic, eicosapentaenoic, eicosatrienoic, docosahexaenoic, γ-linolenic, myristic, eicosenoic, arachidonic, eicosadienoic, oleic, linoleic, palmitic, linoelaidic, stearic, palmitoleic, pentadecanoic, and margaric acids. Decreases in the ratios of omega-3 to other unsaturated fatty acids were observed only for the esterified forms. Conclusions: The data obtained allow us to consider an increased level of NEFAs as one of the main cytotoxic factors for the vascular endothelium. Modification of albumin properties and decreased bioavailability of docosahexaenoic acid could be molecular links that cause specific manifestations of organophosphate-induced pathology at late stages after exposure.