Repellency Effect of Essential Oils of Some Native Plants and Synthetic Repellents against Human Flea, Pulex irritans (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)

Background: Fleas are important vectors of human and animal disease, and control measures for protection against their bites and flea-borne diseases are necessary. Methods: The essential oils (EOs) of four native medicinal plants, Ziziphora tenuiore, Myrtus communis, Achillea wilhelmsii and Mentha p...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mohammad Bagher Ghavami, Fahimeh Poorrastgoo, Behrooz Taghiloo, Jamshid Mohammadi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2017-04-01
Series:Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases
Subjects:
Online Access:https://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/view/482
_version_ 1818751996409151488
author Mohammad Bagher Ghavami
Fahimeh Poorrastgoo
Behrooz Taghiloo
Jamshid Mohammadi
author_facet Mohammad Bagher Ghavami
Fahimeh Poorrastgoo
Behrooz Taghiloo
Jamshid Mohammadi
author_sort Mohammad Bagher Ghavami
collection DOAJ
description Background: Fleas are important vectors of human and animal disease, and control measures for protection against their bites and flea-borne diseases are necessary. Methods: The essential oils (EOs) of four native medicinal plants, Ziziphora tenuiore, Myrtus communis, Achillea wilhelmsii and Mentha piperita were isolated by hydrodistillation technique and analyzed by GC-MC. The repellent activity of EOs and synthetic compounds, DEET and permethrin, were assayed on human subjects against field col­lected fleas. The effective doses of 50% and 90% of EOs and synthetic compounds were estimated by probit analysis of dose and response regression line. Results: Analysis of EOs revealed about 19 major components. All oils were found to be more repellent (ED50 range= 208–955µg cm-2) than DEET and permethrin (ED50 range= 27–182 x 103 µg cm-2). Thyme and myrtle oils showed high repellent activities and among the total detected terpenes, thymol (36.26%) and α- pinene (32.5%) were the major components of those oils respectively. Conclusion: Low repellent potency of DEET and permethrin against fleas might be related to flea olfactory system and further molecular and electrophysiological studies are required to conceive new ideas for the discovery and de­velopment of the next generation of repellents. Based on high repellent activity of thyme and myrtle essential oils against Pulex irritans further studies should be staged to develop their appropriate effective formulations. Likewise, field trials should be carried out to evaluate the operational feasibility and dermal toxicity over a long period.
first_indexed 2024-12-18T04:44:26Z
format Article
id doaj.art-20025f8739fb4252b21bc2f09e83329f
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1735-7179
2322-2271
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-18T04:44:26Z
publishDate 2017-04-01
publisher Tehran University of Medical Sciences
record_format Article
series Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases
spelling doaj.art-20025f8739fb4252b21bc2f09e83329f2022-12-21T21:20:37ZengTehran University of Medical SciencesJournal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases1735-71792322-22712017-04-01111320Repellency Effect of Essential Oils of Some Native Plants and Synthetic Repellents against Human Flea, Pulex irritans (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)Mohammad Bagher Ghavami0Fahimeh Poorrastgoo1Behrooz Taghiloo2Jamshid Mohammadi3Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IranDepartment of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IranZanjan Health Center, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IranDepartment of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IranBackground: Fleas are important vectors of human and animal disease, and control measures for protection against their bites and flea-borne diseases are necessary. Methods: The essential oils (EOs) of four native medicinal plants, Ziziphora tenuiore, Myrtus communis, Achillea wilhelmsii and Mentha piperita were isolated by hydrodistillation technique and analyzed by GC-MC. The repellent activity of EOs and synthetic compounds, DEET and permethrin, were assayed on human subjects against field col­lected fleas. The effective doses of 50% and 90% of EOs and synthetic compounds were estimated by probit analysis of dose and response regression line. Results: Analysis of EOs revealed about 19 major components. All oils were found to be more repellent (ED50 range= 208–955µg cm-2) than DEET and permethrin (ED50 range= 27–182 x 103 µg cm-2). Thyme and myrtle oils showed high repellent activities and among the total detected terpenes, thymol (36.26%) and α- pinene (32.5%) were the major components of those oils respectively. Conclusion: Low repellent potency of DEET and permethrin against fleas might be related to flea olfactory system and further molecular and electrophysiological studies are required to conceive new ideas for the discovery and de­velopment of the next generation of repellents. Based on high repellent activity of thyme and myrtle essential oils against Pulex irritans further studies should be staged to develop their appropriate effective formulations. Likewise, field trials should be carried out to evaluate the operational feasibility and dermal toxicity over a long period.https://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/view/482Pulex irritansZiziphora tenuioreMyrtus communisDEETRepellents
spellingShingle Mohammad Bagher Ghavami
Fahimeh Poorrastgoo
Behrooz Taghiloo
Jamshid Mohammadi
Repellency Effect of Essential Oils of Some Native Plants and Synthetic Repellents against Human Flea, Pulex irritans (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)
Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases
Pulex irritans
Ziziphora tenuiore
Myrtus communis
DEET
Repellents
title Repellency Effect of Essential Oils of Some Native Plants and Synthetic Repellents against Human Flea, Pulex irritans (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)
title_full Repellency Effect of Essential Oils of Some Native Plants and Synthetic Repellents against Human Flea, Pulex irritans (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)
title_fullStr Repellency Effect of Essential Oils of Some Native Plants and Synthetic Repellents against Human Flea, Pulex irritans (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)
title_full_unstemmed Repellency Effect of Essential Oils of Some Native Plants and Synthetic Repellents against Human Flea, Pulex irritans (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)
title_short Repellency Effect of Essential Oils of Some Native Plants and Synthetic Repellents against Human Flea, Pulex irritans (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)
title_sort repellency effect of essential oils of some native plants and synthetic repellents against human flea pulex irritans siphonaptera pulicidae
topic Pulex irritans
Ziziphora tenuiore
Myrtus communis
DEET
Repellents
url https://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/view/482
work_keys_str_mv AT mohammadbagherghavami repellencyeffectofessentialoilsofsomenativeplantsandsyntheticrepellentsagainsthumanfleapulexirritanssiphonapterapulicidae
AT fahimehpoorrastgoo repellencyeffectofessentialoilsofsomenativeplantsandsyntheticrepellentsagainsthumanfleapulexirritanssiphonapterapulicidae
AT behrooztaghiloo repellencyeffectofessentialoilsofsomenativeplantsandsyntheticrepellentsagainsthumanfleapulexirritanssiphonapterapulicidae
AT jamshidmohammadi repellencyeffectofessentialoilsofsomenativeplantsandsyntheticrepellentsagainsthumanfleapulexirritanssiphonapterapulicidae