Effects of the chitin synthetase inhibitor plumbagin and its 2-demethyl derivative juglone on insect ecdysone 20-monooxygenase activity.

The chitin synthetase inhibitor plumbagin and its 2-demethyl derivative juglone were found to inhibit in a dose-response fashion the cytochrome P-450 dependent ecdysone 20-monooxygenase activity associated with adult female Aedes aegypti, wandering stage larvae of Drosophila melanogaster, and fat body and midgut from last instar larvae of Manduca sexta. The concentration of these naphthoquinones required to elicit a 50% inhibition of the steroid hydroxylase activity in all the insects was approximately 1 x 10(-4) M.