Researchers have just demonstrated that a drug used against a genetic disease could become a formidable weapon against mosquitoes, including those resisting insecticides. Here is what their study reveals.
The idea seems straight out of a science fiction film: a simple drug, available on prescription, could make your blood a mortal poison for mosquitoes. And according to a new study published on July 31, even without being consumed, this chemical kills mosquitoes just in contact with their legs.
Nitisinone, used to treat two rare genetic diseases, is today at the heart of promising research to stop the spread of malaria and dengue. The tests carried out have shown that it kills mosquitoes, even those immune to insecticides, either after ingestion of treated blood, or by simply walking on soaked surfaces.
A double -use vegetable toxin
Nitisinone is derived from a toxic compound naturally present in the bottleillon, an Australian plant. This medication, approved by the FDA in 2002, is mainly used against type I tyrosinemia and alcaptonuria. Two genetic affections which prevent the body from properly degrading tyrosine, an amino acid according to Science and life.
© Getty Images/iStockphoto
Mosquito placed on an arm.
But the researchers have discovered a side effect as unexpected as decisive: in mosquitoes, Nitisinone blocks an enzyme essential for the digestion of blood proteins. As a result, their digestive system clogs, causing their death in just a few hours.
“This study shows that Nitisinone has a new mode of action distinct from [insecticides] current by specifically targeting blood digestion processes “explain the authors of the study published in Parasites & Vectors.
Proven effectiveness without ingestion
If the effect of the drug by ingestion of treated blood was already known, the new study brings a capital discovery: contact alone with surfaces covered with Nitisinone is enough to kill. The researchers exhibited several species of mosquitoes to treated surfaces, before or after drinking blood. In all cases, insects have shown the same symptoms: paralysis, dark pigmentation and rapid dead.
One of the main authors, Lee hatred of the LSTM, praised these results as a turning point. “This project has proven how important it is to think outside the beaten track”he said in a statement. And add: “The use of a drug such as Nitisinone and its versatility are good to create new anti-mosquito products”.
© Shutterstock
A promising alternative to conventional insecticides
While resistant mosquitoes proliferate and insecticides lose their effectiveness, Nitisinone opens a new path. According to the WHO, more than 90 % of the countries affected by malaria report resistance to at least one insecticide, and around 263 million people are infected each year such as appeared in Popular Science.
For researchers, this track is serious. “Its effectiveness in killing insecticide -resistant mosquitoes could change the situation in regions where resistance to current insecticides is at the origin of the failure of public health interventions”underlines Lee Haines.
In the future, it might be enough to coat mosquito nets or textiles from this medication to drastically reduce bites. An unexpected perspective, born from a drug intended to save lives … and which could, as a bonus, save many others.
