ARS | Publication request: Comparative study of four membranes for evaluation of new insect/arthropod repellents using Aedes aegypti

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: November 29, 2007
Publication Date: February 9, 2008
Citation: Watnaporn, D., Lawrence, K. L., Benante, J. P., Chauhan, K. R., Bathini, N., White, C.E., Bhattacharjee, A., and Gupta, R. 2008. Comparative study of four membranes for evaluation of new insect/arthropod repellent using aedes aegypti. Proceedings of VIIIth Sir Dorabjee Tata International Symposium: Arthropod born viral infections-Current status and research. p. 417-424.

Interpretive Summary: Toxicological limitation severely restricts chemical screening programs for discovery of new and effective arthropod repellents for human use. To overcome this limitation, we evaluated four different blood-feeding membrane system that mosquito feed upon as if it were a human. Tests showed that the use of sausage as blood-feeding membrane is promising, and the repellent activities closely resembled results obtained when the commercial compounds were applied to humans. This information is very useful for in vitro screening of novel repellents and deterrents of arthropod vectors of disease.

Technical Abstract: Four different membranes: Baudruche; Hemotek, sausage, and silicone-based membrane were evaluated as human skin substitute for an in vitro repellent study using Aedes aegypti. No significant difference was observed in repellent activity (ED50) of DEET among the membranes. Sausage membrane was selected to replace Baudruche membrane due to its availability, ease of use, simple application technique, and low cost. In addition, ten repellents were evaluated for their repellent potential in an in vitro repellent test system. Seven of the ten compounds demonstrated good repellency with effective dosages ED50 ranging from 0.001 mg/cm 2 to 0.103 mg/cm 2 and ED95 ranging from 0.614 mg/cm 2 to 1.204 mg/cm2. These in vitro results further validated our previously reported 3D pharmacophore model based selection of promising new insect repellent compounds. The results indicated the promise of both sausage membrane and 3D pharmacophore modeling as efficient and effective tools for developing user friendly insect repellents.