| 1. |
- Benelli, Giovanni, et al.
(författare)
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Mosquito control with green nanopesticides : towards the One Health approach? A review of non-target effects
- 2018
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Pollution Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0944-1344 .- 1614-7499. ; 25:11, s. 10184-10206
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The rapid spread of highly aggressive arboviruses, parasites, and bacteria along with the development of resistance in the pathogens and parasites, as well as in their arthropod vectors, represents a huge challenge in modern parasitology and tropical medicine. Eco-friendly vector control programs are crucial to fight, besides malaria, the spread of dengue, West Nile, chikungunya, and Zika virus, as well as other arboviruses such as St. Louis encephalitis and Japanese encephalitis. However, research efforts on the control of mosquito vectors are experiencing a serious lack of eco-friendly and highly effective pesticides, as well as the limited success of most biocontrol tools currently applied. Most importantly, a cooperative interface between the two disciplines is still lacking. To face this challenge, we have reviewed a wide number of promising results in the field of green-fabricated pesticides tested against mosquito vectors, outlining several examples of synergy with classic biological control tools. The non-target effects of green-fabricated nanopesticides, including acute toxicity, genotoxicity, and impact on behavioral traits of mosquito predators, have been critically discussed. In the final section, we have identified several key challenges at the interface between "green" nanotechnology and classic biological control, which deserve further research attention.
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| 2. |
- Kamte, Stephane L. Ngahang, et al.
(författare)
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Identification of highly effective antitrypanosomal compounds in essential oils from the Apiaceae family
- 2018
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Ingår i: Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. - : Elsevier. - 0147-6513 .- 1090-2414. ; 156, s. 154-165
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Apiaceae family encompasses aromatic plants of economic importance employed in foodstuffs, beverages, perfumery, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Apiaceae are rich sources of essential oils because of the wealth of secretory structures (ducts and vittae) they are endowed with. The Apiaceae essential oils are available on an industrial level because of the wide cultivation and disposability of the bulky material from which they are extracted as well as their relatively cheap price. In the fight against protozoal infections, essential oils may represent new therapeutic options. In the present work, we focused on a panel of nine Apiaceae species (Siler montamon, Sison amomum, Echinophora spinosa, Kundmannia sicula, Crithmum maritimum, Helosciadium nodiforum, Pimpinella anisum, Heracleum sphondylium and Trachyspermum cunmi) and their essential oils as a model for the identification of trypanocidal compounds to be used as alternative/integrative therapies in the treatment of Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) and as starting material for drug design. The evaluation of inhibitory effects of the Apiaceae essential oils against Trypanosoma brucei showed that some of them (E. spinosa, S. amomum, C. maritimwn and H. nodifloruin) were active, with EC50 in the range 2.7-10.7 mu g/mL. Most of these oils were selective against T. brucei, except the one from C. maritimum that was highly selective against the BALB/3T3 mammalian cells. Testing nine characteristic individual components (a-pinene, sabinene, alpha-phellandrene, p-cymene, limonene, beta-ocimene, gamma-terpinene, terpinolene, and myristicin) of these oils, we showed that some of them had much higher selectivity than the oils themselves. Terpinolene was particularly active with an EC50 value of 0.035 mu g/rnL (0.26 mu M) and a selectivity index (SI) of 180. Four other compounds with EC50 in the range 1.0-6.0 mu g/mL (7.4-44 mu M) had also good SI: a-pinene (> 100), beta-ocimene (> 91), limonene (> 18) and sabinene ( > 17). In conclusion, these results highlight that the essential oils from the Apiaceae family are a reservoir of substances to be used as leading compounds for the development of natural drugs for the treatment of HAT.
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| 3. |
- Sut, Stefania, et al.
(författare)
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Identification of tagitinin C from Tithonia diversifolia as antitrypanosomal compound using bioactivity-guided fractionation
- 2018
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Ingår i: Fitoterapia (Milano). - : Elsevier. - 0367-326X .- 1873-6971. ; 124, s. 145-151
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tithonia diversifolia (Asteraceae), is used as traditional medicine in tropical countries for the treatment of various diseases, including malaria. Although numerous studies have assessed the antimalarial properties, nothing is known about the effect of T. diversifolia extracts on trypanosomiasis. In this study extracts of T. diversifolia aerial parts were evaluated for their bioactivity against Trypanosoma brucei. The activity was studied against bloodstream forms of T. brucei (TC221), as well as against mammalian cells (BALB/3T3 mouse fibroblasts), as a counter-screen for toxicity. Both methanolic and aqueous extracts showed significant effects with IC50 values of 1.1 and 2.2 mu g/mL against T. brucei (TC221) and 5.2 and 3.7 mu g/mL against BALB/3T3 cells, respectively. A bioassay-guided fractionation on the methanolic extract yielded in identification of active fractions (F8 and F9) with IC50 values of 0.41 and 0.43 mu g/mL, respectively, against T. brucei (TC221) and 1.4 and 1.5 mu g/mL, respectively, against BALB/3T3 cells,. The phytochemical composition of the extracts and the purified fractions were investigated using HPLC-ESI-MS/MS and 1D and 2D NMR spectra showing the presence of sesquiterpene lactones that in turn were subjected to the isolation procedure. Tagitinin A and C were rather active but the latter presented a very strong inhibition on T. brucei (TC221) with an IC50 value of 0.0042 mu g/mL. This activity was 4.5 times better than that of the reference drug suramin. The results of this study shed light on the antitrypanosomal effects of T. diversifolia extracts and highlighted tagitinin C as one of the possible responsible for this effect. Further structure activity relationships studies on tagitinins are needed to consider this sesquiterpenes as lead compounds for the development of new antitrypanosomal drugs.
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