Rotenone toxicity

Rotenoids. The use of rotenone-bearing roots as insecticides in the United States was developed as a result of federal laws against residues of lead, arsenic, and fluorine upon edible produce. Rotenone [83-79-4] (5) is harmless to plants, highly toxic to many insects, and relatively innocuous to... 

Piscicides. The two piscicides, antimycin and rotenone, are both used in ponds to control nuisance fish. Antimycin is used selectively to remove scaled fishes from catfish ponds, and rotenone is used as a general fish toxicant (9,10). Recent observations by catfish farmers indicate that antimycin at low concentrations also acts as a therapeutant against external parasites. 

Rotenone is a complex flavonoid found in the plant Derris ellyptica. It acts by inhibiting electron transport in the mitochondrion. Derris powder is an insecticidal preparation made from the plant, which is highly toxic to hsh. 

With the advent of DDT it became possible to think in terms of the eradication of insect pests instead of their control only. Although very lethal organic toxicants such as the pyrethrins and rotenone had been previously employed, their instability under normal conditions of use limited their utility. 

At first, Geigy s biologists were puzzled because the insects sprayed with DDT did not die immediately. Accustomed to the quick action of pyrethrum and rotenone, they dismissed Muller s discovery as unimportant. They did not realize that DDT s long period of activity could be far more important than sheer speed. In the parlance of insecticides, DDT had slow knockdown but sure kill. Surfaces sprayed with DDT in 1941 and stored under dust-free laboratory conditions were still toxic to insects seven years later. 

Similarly, abnormalities in the mitochondrial machinery and resulting oxidative stress may also intervene in Parkinson s disease (PD) [31, 32]. The decreased activity of mitochondrial complex I in PD patients [33], and the preferential toxicity of the complex I inhibitor rotenone [34] and MPP+ (the active metabolite of MPTP)... 

Finney4 reported the data of Martin5 involving the toxicity of rotenone to the insect species Macrosiphoniella sanbomi. The rotenone was applied in a medium of 0.5% saponin,... 

J. T. Martin, The Problem of the Evaluation of Rotenone-Containing Plants. VI. The Toxicity of 1-Elliptone and of Poisons Applied Jointly, with Further Observations on the Rotenone Equivalent Method of Assessing the Toxicity of Derris Root, Ann. Appl. Biol. (1942), 29 69-81. 

Fukami, J-I., Shishido, T., Fukunaga, K. and Casida, J.E. Oxidative metabolism of rotenone in mammals, fish and insects and its relation to selective toxicity. J. Agr. Food. Chem. 

Khera KS, Whalen C, Angers G Teratogenicity study on pyrethrum and rotenone (natural origin) and ronnel in pregnant rats. J Toxic Environ Health 10 111-119, 1982... 

Abdo KM, Eustis SL, Haseman J, et al Toxicity and carcinogenicity of rotenone given in the feed to F344/N rats and B6C3F1 mice for up to two years. Drug Chem Toxicol 11 225-235, 1988... 

Gooch, J.W., F. Matsumura, and M.J. Zabik. 1990. Chlordane residues in Great Lakes trout acute toxicity and interaction at the GABA receptor of rat and lake trout brain. Chemosphere 21 393-406. Greenhalgh, E.A. 1986. The effects of chlordane and rotenone on the alimentary tract of the field cricket. Toxicology 42 317-330. 

To test the validity of the bioassay itself we prepared a diet containing increasing amounts of rotenone, a compound derived from isoflavones and thus chemically not far removed from the soybean phytoalexins. Results in this case followed exactly the expected dose response curve (Table VII). Both survival and weight gain of larvae were drastically affected by increasing concentrations of rotenone. This experiment showed that the bioassay would be capable of detecting toxic effects of the phytoalexins on the soybean looper larvae, if such effects were acute. It showed also that the detoxification mechanisms in the soybean looper, a rather polyphagous insect, may permit it to adequately overcome the antibiotic effect of the isoflavonoid phytoalexins, but not that of the isoflavone rotenone. 

In insect control petroleum oils may be used largely in three ways. First, they may be used as adhesives in the formulation of sprays and dusts—when used in this manner the inherent toxicity of the oil is not of primary interest. Second, they may be used as solvents which serve as carriers for toxicants such as rotenone and pyrethrin— lly spray is an example of this type. Third, they may be used as the principal toxic agent as in the case of horticultural sprays. 

Pesticides derived from natural sources include nicotine, rotenone, and pyrethrum. Nicotine is obtained from the dried leaves of Nicotiana tabacum and N rustica. It is rapidly absorbed from mucosal surfaces the free alkaloid, but not the salt, is readily absorbed from the skin. Nicotine reacts with the acetylcholine receptor of the postsynaptic membrane (sympathetic and parasympathetic ganglia, neuromuscular junction), resulting in depolarization of the membrane. Toxic doses cause stimulation rapidly followed by blockade of transmission. These actions are described in Chapter 7. Treatment is directed toward maintenance of vital signs and suppression of convulsions. 

Effect of Rotenone and Antimycin A on Electron Transfer Rotenone, a toxic natural product from plants, strongly inhibits NADH dehydrogenase of insect and fish mitochondria. Antimycin A, a toxic antibiotic, strongly inhibits the oxidation of ubiquinol. 

Insecticide Rotenone. Principal insecticidal constituent of derris root. Toxic to humans at high dose-levels due to respiratory paralysis... 

Rotenone is the toxic principle of several tropical and subtropical plants, the chief of which is derris. It is a complex organic heterocyclic compound and rotenone derivatives are stomach and contact poisons. 

Ground derris roots are extracted with chloroform or carbon tetrachloride and the solvent evaporated, leaving a mixture of rotenone and some other less toxic substances, which are not separated. 

Rotenone An insecticide extracted from plants that is also toxic to humans. 

These compounds vary, from the natural product rotenone (from Derris or Lonchocarpus root, used to control vegetable and fruit insects) to the synthetics sulfluramid and hydramethylnon (used to control mites and cockroaches). Interestingly, the highest acute toxicity to mammals is caused by the natural product rotenone. These compounds affect the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy storage molecule of the cell that is produced by mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell. The disruption of energy metabolism and the subsequent loss of ATP result in a slowly developing toxicity, and the effects of all these compounds include inactivity, paralysis, and death. 

A wide variety of other chemicals, such as rotenone, have also been found to be toxic to dopamine neurones when administered in vitro (Sherer et al., 2003) or in vivo (Heikkila et al., 1985b Ferrante et al., 1997 Betarbet et al., 2002). However, these studies are primarily toxicological, seeking to identify the possible causes of PD in man (Jenner, 2001), and do not replace 6-OHDA as the primary experimental tool when the need is to provide the most powerful strategy for experimental analysis of dopamine system function per se. 

---