Emerging vector-borne diseases have become a concern for travelers and nontravelers alike. Although Ebola has dominated recent headlines, tropical arboviruses such as dengue and chikungunya have more quietly reached the United States. Local transmission of chikungunya virus was first documented in the United States in July 2014, and local spread of dengue has occurred in Florida, Texas, and Haw...

A modular and novel assay system for rapid mass screening of chemical compounds for contact irritant and spatial repellent actions against adult mosquitoes is described. The responses of Aedes aegypti to various concentrations of 3 topical repellents, deet, Bayrepel, and SS220, were evaluated. At treatment concentrations > or = 25 nmol/cm2 of SS220, mosquitoes exhibited significant contact irri...

Despite shortcomings, N,N-Diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET) has remained the gold-standard of insect repellents for >60 years. There are significant impediments to finding improved substitutes because the molecular targets causing repellency are unclear, new chemistries will require significant human-safety testing, and predicted costs for development are exorbitant. Here we identify shared stru...

The modulation of insect behavior for the purpose of controlling the spread of infectious diseases has been the task of a few insect repellents for which the mechanistic modes of action on odorant receptors (ORs) are unclear. Here, we study the effects of the repellents DEET and IR3535, and a novel OR co-receptor (Orco) agonist on odorant-evoked currents in Xenopus oocytes expressing two subtyp...

A naturally occurring sesquiterpene, isolongifolenone, derivatives of which have been used extensively as ingredients in the cosmetics industry, was discovered to effectively repel blood-feeding arthropods that are important disease vectors. We show that (-)-isolongifolenone deters the biting of the mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti (L.) and Anopheles stephensi Liston, more effectively than the widely ...

The essential oil of catnip, Nepeta cataria L., contains two isomers of nepetalactone, E,Z-and Z,E-nepetalactone, and was tested for repellent activity to adult male German cockroaches, Blattella germanica (L.), in a choice-test arena. The two isomers of nepetalactone were purified by using preparative thin-layer chromatography and tested for behavioral activity in the choice-test arena. Signif...

Infection of Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) with Edhazardia aedis (Microsporidia: Culicosporidae) reduced mean human host attraction and landing/probing rates in female mosquitoes by 53 and 62%, respectively, compared with rates in microsporidia-free females. Infection with E. aedis reduced the average weight of unfed female mosquitoes by 4%, caused them to imbibe 23% less blood, and t...

Reducing the risk of mosquito bites is currently the only way to reduce the risk of West Nile virus infection. Methods for avoiding mosquito bites include limiting the time spent outdoors at dawn and dusk, wearing protective clothing and using an insect repellent. Repellents containing DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, also known as N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide) are the most effective and most wi...

Peanut flour (PF) is a high-protein ingredient prepared after the partial extraction of oil from roasted peanut seed. Microbial transglutaminase (TGase) catalyzes protein crosslinking via acyl-transfer reactions, resulting in the modification of functional properties such as viscosity, gelation, solubility, and water holding capacity. This work was conducted to observe changes in rheological pr...

Meloxicam is a poorly water soluble non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug and antipyretic agent. The aim of the present work was to investigate the effect of different types of carriers on in vitro dissolution of meloxicam. Meloxicam solid dispersions were prepared by physical mixing, co-grinding and solvent evaporation methods with polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000. The effect of solubilization by...