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Acaricidal properties of an Ailanthus altissima bark extract against Psoroptes cuniculi and Sarcoptes scabiei var. cuniculi in vitro
Identifier
018315
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Sarcoptes scabiei or the itch mite is a parasitic arthropod that burrows into skin and causes scabies.
Psoroptes is a genus of mites, including the agents that cause psoroptic mange. Psoroptes mites are responsible for causing psoroptic mange in various animals, leading to economic losses among farmers of cattle, sheep and goats.It is also known as sheep scab and cattle scab. The disease is highly infectious, and is transmitted via fenceposts and other structures that livestock use when scratching themselves.The mites have mouthparts which do not pierce the skin, but are adapted to feeding on the surface, where the mites abrade the stratum corneum
A description of the experience
Exp Appl Acarol. 2014 Feb;62(2):225-32. doi: 10.1007/s10493-013-9736-0. Epub 2013 Sep 20.
Acaricidal properties of an Ailanthus altissima bark extract against Psoroptes cuniculi and Sarcoptes scabiei var. cuniculi in vitro.
Gu X1, Fang C, Yang G, Xie Y, Nong X, Zhu J, Wang S, Peng X, Yan Q.
- 1Department of Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, 625014, China, guxiaobin198225@126.com.
Abstract
The potential acaricidal properties of an Ailanthus altissima bark extract were assessed against two common species of animal ectoparasitic mites, Psoroptes cuniculi and Sarcoptes scabiei var. cuniculi, in vitro. A. altissima bark extract was obtained by ethanol thermal circumfluence and tested at four concentrations (1.0, 0.5, 0.25 and 0.125 g/ml) on mites collected from rabbits. Compared to the fenvalerate treatment group, the A. altissima bark exhibited significant acaricidal properties for both mite species treated. The extract of concentrations of 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25 g/ml killed all tested S. scabiei within 7 h, however, only 1.0 and 0.5 g/ml of extract killed all treated P. cuniculi. The median lethal time (LT50) values at 1, 0.5 and 0.25 g/ml were 0.60, 0.78, 1.48 h for S. scabiei and 0.74, 1.29, 3.33 h for P. cuniculi. The median lethal concentration (LC50) for P. cuniculi was approximately 1.6 times that for S. scabiei var. cuniculi at 4 h. The extract showed stronger toxicity against S. scabiei than against P. cuniculi. Mortality rates increased with increasing concentration of extract administered and with increasing time post-treatment, indicating that the acaricidal activity of A. altissima bark extract is both time-dependent and dose-dependent. This is the first report on acaricidal activity of A. altissima against P. cuniculi and S. scabiei var. cuniculi. It indicates that A. altissima contain potential acaricidal compounds. Our study is the first step to develop potentially novel compounds from A. altissima for the effective control of mites in livestock.
PMID: 24052400