Nanoparticles for mosquito control: Challenges and constraints

Abstract

Mosquito control programs are facing important and timely challenges, including the\ud recent outbreaks of novel arbovirus, the development of resistance in several Culicidae species,\ud and the rapid spreading of highly invasive mosquitoes worldwide. Current control tools mainly rely\ud on the employment of (i) synthetic or microbial pesticides, (ii) insecticide-treated bed nets, (iii) adult\ud repellents, (iv) biological control agents against mosquito young instars (mainly fishes, amphibians\ud and copepods) (v) Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), (vi) ‘‘boosted SIT”, (vii) symbiont-based methods\ud and (viii) transgenic mosquitoes. Currently, none of these single strategies is fully successful. Novel\ud eco-friendly strategies to manage mosquito vectors are urgently needed. The plant-mediated fabrication\ud of nanoparticles is advantageous over chemical and physical methods, since it is cheap,\ud single-step, and does not require high pressure, energy, temperature, or the use of highly toxic chemicals.\ud In the latest years, a growing number of plant-borne compounds have been proposed for efficient\ud and rapid extracellular synthesis of metal nanoparticles effective against mosquitoes at very\ud low doses (i.e. 1–30 ppm). In this review, we focused on the promising potential of greenfabricated\ud nanoparticles as toxic agents against mosquito young instars, and as adult oviposition\ud deterrents. Furthermore, we analyzed current evidences about non-target effects of these nanocomposites\ud used for mosquito control, pointing out their moderate acute toxicity for non-target aquatic\ud organisms, absence of genotoxicity at the doses tested against mosquitoes, and the possibility to\ud boost the predation rates of biological control agents against mosquitoes treating the aquatic environment\ud with ultra-low doses (e.g. 1–3 ppm) of green-synthesized nanoparticles, which reduce the\ud motility of mosquito larvae. Challenges for future research should shed light on (i) the precise\ud mechanism(s) of action of green-fabricated metal nanoparticles, (ii) their fate in the aquatic\ud environment, and (iii) the possible toxicity of residual silver ions in the aquatic ecosystems, (iv) the standardization of chemical composition of botanical products used as sources of reducing and\ud capping metabolites, (v) the optimization of the green nanosynthetic routes, in order to develop\ud large-scale production of eco-friendly nanomosquitocides

Recent Developments in Nanotechnology for Detection and Control of Aedes aegypti-Borne Diseases

“…Also, economic issues can limiting the broad commercialization of nano-based formulations (Ventola, 2017;Jones et al, 2019). In comparison to conventional therapies, the production of a nano-based formulations required higher initial investments that will only be worth it from a business perspective if brings good opportunities for the pharmaceutical company, justifying their investment of R&D sector and reduce substantially health care costs (Benelli et al, 2017;Hua et al, 2018). Future research should explore the possibility of (i) determine the mechanism of action of nano-based formulations; (ii) understand the behavior and interaction of nanomaterial in complex biological matrix, such as human body; (iii) evaluate the possible toxicity and residual effects of nanomaterials in both target and non-target organisms; (iv) development of a international legislation; (v) create a standard definition of nanotechnology and nanomaterials, and (vi) standardized methods for establishing the risk-benefit of nanomaterials, in order to create large scale production of nanodevices to fight against of arboviruses as suggested in literature (Parisi et al, 2015;Kah et al, 2018a,b).…”

“…In this regard, the importance of nanobiotechnology has been gradually realized as an emerging technology of the future due to exceptional new benefits (Suganya et al, 2017). In the vector control applications, nanoparticles could be applied for: (a) the development of new drugs, with higher activity, decreased toxicity and sustained release; (b) development of new repellent formulations based on natural or synthetic compounds; (c) control of vectors by the use of nanoparticles with repellent, insecticidal or larvicidal activities (Magro et al, 2019); and (d) development of biosensors that can rapidly detect and diagnose the mosquito transmitted viral diseases (Durán et al, 2016;Benelli et al, 2017;Nicolini et al, 2017a). Due to the lack of specific drugs for viral diseases, nanobiotechnology has appeared as an important new breakthrough, which could be potentially used for treatment of patients infected with arboviruses.…”

The current trends in the green syntheses of titanium oxide nanoparticles and their applications

“…Metallic nanoparticles have been effectively used against many species of parasitic larva and adult's insects Benelli et al (81). Green synthesized TiO 2 NPs have also been found to be effective larvicidal agents against various species of parasitic insects as shown in Table 5.…”

Biogenic Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Guava (<i>Psidium guajava</i>) Leaf Extract and Its Larvicidal Action against <i>Anopheles gambiae</i>

“…Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes lead to commercial and labor output losses, particularly in countries with tropical and subtropical climates [2]. Mosquitoes represent a huge threat for millions of people worldwide, since they spread various tropical diseases, especially malaria, which is transmitted by female A. gambiae mosquitoes [3].…”