ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

A natural nanogel with higher efficacy than a standard repellent against the primary malaria mosquito vector, Anopheles stephensi Liston

Mohammad Djaefar Moemenbellah-Fard, Samira Firoozian, Marziae Shahriari-Namadi, Elham Zarenezhad, Ghazaal Roozitalab, and Mahmoud Osanloo

Research Center for Health Sciences, Institute of Health, Department of Biology and Control of Disease Vectors, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

E-mail: m.osanloo@fums.ac.ir

Received: 25 August 2021  Accepted: 3 December 2021

Abstract:

Personal protective repellent is a practical approach to evade mosquitoes’ bites and control mosquito-borne diseases like malaria in endemic regions. However, due to the relative allergy and neurotoxicity of synthetic repellents such as N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET), attempts have focused on developing natural repellents. In this study, nanoemulsion-based nanogels of Elettaria cardamomum and Zataria multiflora essential oils were first prepared. The median complete protection times (CPTs) of the prepared nanogels were then evaluated using the arm-in-cage (AIC) method compared to DEET against the primary malaria vector, Anopheles stephensi. The topical repellent effect of nanogel of Z. multiflora essential oil with a droplet size of 8 ± 1 nm, droplet size distribution (SPAN) 0.89, and a minimum CPT of 600 min outperformed all other samples (P < 0.001). However, the nanogel of E. cardamomum essential oil with a droplet size of 86 ± 5 nm, droplet size distribution 0.97, and 63 ± 15 min CPT showed significantly less efficacy (P < 0.001) than DEET (242 ± 12 min). The promising efficacy, natural constituents, straightforward, and repeatable preparation procedure are some of the advantages of the Z. multiflora nanogel as a new potential repellent.

Keywords: Nanoemulsion; Nanogel; Anopheles stephensi; Repellent

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-021-02006-x

Chemical Papers 76 (3) 1767–1776 (2022)