Abstract: Juvenile hormone (JH) metabolism enzymes, including JH esterase, JH epoxide hydrolase and JH diol kinase, catalyze JH to metabolize. By the action of these enzymes, JH is metabolized to JH acid, JH diol, JH acid diol, and JH diol phosphate. We have summarized the methods used to study JH metabolism. On the clues of laboratories and insect species, the investigation process of each enzyme is introduced and generalized. Meanwhile, amino acid sequence alignments of JH esterase and JH epoxide hydrolase are analyzed. At the end, the study of JH metabolism is prospected.

Key words: Juvenile hormone, metabolism, juvenile hormone esterase, juvenile hormone epoxide hydrolase, juvenile hormone diol kinase