The effects of phytochemical pesticides on the growth of cultured invertebrate and vertebrate cells

A range of cultured cells of invertebrate and vertebrate origin was grown in the presence of a number of phytochemical pesticides to test the effect of the latter on cell proliferation. The main observation was that azadirachtin was a potent inhibitor of insect cell replication, with an EC 50 of 1.5 × 10 −10   M against Spodoptera cells and of 6.3 × 10 −9   M against Aedes albopictus cells, whilst affecting mammalian cells only at high concentrations (>10 −4   M ). As expected, the other phytochemical pesticides, except for rotenone, had little effect on the growth of the cultured cells. Rotenone was highly effective in inhibiting the growth of insect cells (EC 50 :10 −8   M ) but slightly less toxic towards mammalian cells (EC 50 :2 × 10 −7   M ). Neem terpenoids other than azadirachtin and those very similar in structure significantly inhibited growth of the cell cultures, but to a lesser degree. The major neem seed terpenoids, nimbin and salannin, for example, inhibited insect cell growth by 23% and 15%, respectively. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry