Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) catalyzes the hydrolysis of butyrylcholine to choline. Choline reacts with 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) to generate 5-thio-2-nitrobenzoic acid (TNB), which exhibits a characteristic absorbance peak at 412 nm. By measuring the change in absorbance at this wavelength, the activity of butyrylcholinesterase can be determined.