Insect growth regulator activity of Cestrum parqui saponins: an interaction with cholesterol metabolism

Cestrum parqui is an ornamental shrub known for its insecticidal activity against some insect pests; this activity comes from the crude saponic extract of the leaves of this plant, the saponins cause insect growth regulator symptoms (development and moulting perturbation). In this work we try to demonstrate the hypothesis that saponins interact with ecdysone (moulting hormone) synthesis mechanisms by reducing diet cholesterol absorption (cholesterol forms the skeleton of ecdysone and of other ecdysteroids). To show the cholesterol/saponin interaction we used a stored product pest insect (Tribolium confuisurn), the larva of this insect are affected by saponins added in their diet, but the addition of cholesterol permits to reduce significatively this insecticidal propriety. Using Spodoptera littoralis larva model the tentative to detect a cholesterol rate reduction on the level of hemolymph is also unsuccessful. All these experiments shows that this type of reaction can't occur in the diet or in the digestive system but probably in insect cells. It is clear that Cestrurn parqui saponins affect the cholesterol metabolism but the exactly mechanism is still unknown. More investigations are necessary to develop this hypothesis and to envisage the use of Cestrum saponins as insect growth regulator bioinsecticide.