Imidacloprid

Imidacloprid is a broad-spectrum neonicotinoid insecticide that is effective against sucking and biting insects and insects of the Coleopteran and Lepidoptera orders.^1,2 It is an agonist of insect acetylcholine receptors (nAchRs) with K_i values of 1.9, 2.1, 290, and 50 nM for M. persicae and D. melanogaster receptors, rat brain membranes, and rat recombinant receptors containing α4β2 subunits, respectively.^3,4 Imidacloprid is lethal to M. persicae with LD₉₅ values of approximately 2 and 160 pg/aphid via oral and topical administration, respectively.² It impairs aversive learning and memory retention in honey bees following chronic sublethal exposure of 20.8 ppb.⁵ In a mouse model of high-fat diet-induced obesity, imidacloprid (0.06-6 mg/kg per day) increases body weight gain and adiposity and impairs glucose metabolism without increasing total food intake.⁶

1.Elbert, A., Overbeck, H., Iwaya, K., et al.Imidacloprid, a novel systemic nitromethylene analogue insecticide for crop protectionBrighton Crop Protection Conference, Pests and Diseases21-28(1990) 2.Elbert, A., Becker, B., Hartwig, J., et al.Imidacloprid - A new systemic insecticidePflanzenschutz-Nachrichten Bayer (German Edition)44(2)113-136(1991) 3.Kagabu, S., Maienfisch, P., Zhang, A., et al.5-Azidoimidacloprid and an acyclic analogue as candidate photoaffinity probes for mammalian and insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptorsJ. Med. Chem.43(26)5003-5009(2000) 4.Tomizawa, M., and Casida, J.E.Selective toxicity of neonicotinoids attributable to specificity of insect and mammalian nicotinic receptorsAnnu. Rev. Entomol.48339-364(2003) 5.Zhang, E., and Nieh, J.C.The neonicotinoid imidacloprid impairs honey bee aversive learning of simulated predationJ. Exp. Biol.218(Pt 20)3199-3205(2015) 6.Sun, Q., Xiao, X., Kim, Y., et al.Imidacloprid promotes high fat diet-induced adiposity and insulin resistance in male C57BL/6J miceJ. Agric. Food Chem.64(49)9293-9306(2016)