Abstract
Essential oils (EOs) are lipophilic secondary metabolites obtained from plants; terpenoids represent the main components of them. A lot of studies showed neurotoxic actions of EOs. In insects, they cause paralysis followed by death. This feature let us consider components of EOs as potential bioinsecticides. The inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is the one of the most investigated mechanisms of action in EOs. However, EOs are rather weak inhibitors of AChE. Another proposed mechanism of EO action is a positive allosteric modulation of GABA receptors (GABArs). There are several papers that prove the potentiation of GABA effect on mammalian receptors induced by EOs. In contrast, there is lack of any data concerning the binding of EO components in insects GABArs. In insects, EOs act also via the octopaminergic system. Available data show that EOs can increase the level of both cAMP and calcium in nervous cells. Moreover, some EO components compete with octopamine in binding to its receptor. Electrophysiological experiments performed on Periplaneta americana have shown similarity in the action of EO components and octopamine. This suggests that EOs can modify neuron activity by octopamine receptors. A multitude of potential targets in the insect nervous system makes EO components interesting candidates for bio-insecticides.
Highlights
Essential oils (EOs) are natural, complex substances extracted from different plant organs, and terpenoids are the main components of them [1]
EOs do not compete with the Gamma-amminobutyric acid (GABA) site antagonists [80], in mM concentrations EOs can cause weak Cl− currents inhibited by bicuculline [84]
Homomeric GABA receptors composed of the RDL subunits are accepted as a model to study the physiology and pharmacology of the insect GABArs because they are blocked by picrotoxin and they are insensitive to bicuculline [96,97]
Summary
Essential oils (EOs) are natural, complex substances extracted from different plant organs, and terpenoids are the main components of them [1]. Evidence that some EO components, applied in binary mixture, can exhibit synergistic or antagonistic activity Such effects suggest diverse mechanisms of action of EO components [29,30,31]. Stretching legseffects and components, applied in binary mixture, canhyperactivity exhibit synergistic or antagonistic activity.the These effects demonstrate the neurotoxic activity of suggest diverse mechanisms action[19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28]. A lot of research demonstrates that EOs inhibit the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Different inhibitory action of EOs on the AChE suggests the existence of diverse binding sites in the enzyme molecule. AChE inhibition does not seem to be the primary neurotoxic action of EOs, some of the large sized EO chemicals can be consider as AChE inhibitors
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