Abstract
The use of botanical compounds such as essential oils has recently become the subject of great interest as a natural means of pest control because of their ovicidal, larvicidal, or adulticidal activity against various insect species including head lice. We tested and compared the efficacy of pure oxygenated monoterpenoids that are main ingredients of essential oils of good biological activity. We used pulegone and citral, components of Aloysia citrodora, and geraniol, citronellol, and linalool, components of Geranium sp. oil. We found that citronellol and geraniol showed the highest knockdown and mortality effect (>60%) on adults of both sexes (50:50%) and third-stage nymphs. Pulegone, linalool, and citral showed knockdown percentages between 42 and 55%, and mortality percentages between 47 and 53%. A simple linear regression analysis showed statistically significant relationships between the studied toxic effects and viscosity of the monoterpenoids (p < 0.05), but not with their partition coefficient (log P).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbott WS (1987) A method of computing the effectiveness of an insecticide. 1925. J Am Mosq Control Assoc 3:302–303
Abdel-Ghaffar F, Semmier M, Al-Rasheid K, Klimpel S, Mehlhorn H (2009) Comparative in vitro test on the efficacy and safety of 13 anti-head-lice products. Parasitol Res 106:423–429
Abdel-Ghaffar F, Semmier M (2007) Efficacy of neem seed extract shampoo on head lice of naturally infected human in Egypt. Parasitol Res 100:329–332
Bauer E, Jahnke C, Feldmeier H (2009) Seasonal fluctuations of head lice infestation in Germany. Parasitol Res 104:677–681
Burguess IF (2004) Human lice and their control. Annu Rev Entomol 49:457–481
Gonzalez Audino P, Vassena C, Zerba E, Picollo M (2007) Effectiveness of lotions based on essential oils from aromatic plants against permethrin resistant Pediculus humanus capitis. Arch Dermatol Res 299:389–392
Guenther E (1950) The essential oils. Krieger Publishing Company, Florida
Heukelbach J, Fabiola A, Oliveira S, Speare R (2006) A new shampoo on neem (Azadirachta indica) is highly affective against head lice in vitro. Parasitol Res 99:353–356
Hunter J, Barker S (2003) Susceptibility of head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) in pediculicides in Australia. Parasitol Res 90:476–478
Isman M (2000) Plant essential oils for pest and disease management. Crop Prot 19:603–608
Kristensen M (2005) Identification of sodium channel mutations in human head louse (Anoplura: Pediculidae) from Denmark. J Med Entomol 42:826–829
Lee S, Peterson CJ, Coats JR (2003) Fumigation toxicity of monoterpenoids to several stored product insects. J Stored Prod Res 39:77–85
Mougabure Cueto G, Gonzalez Audino P, Vassena C, Picollo MI, Zerba EN (2002) Toxic effect of aliphatic alcohols against susceptible and permethrin-resistant Pediculus humanus capitis (Anoplura: Pediculidae). J Med Entomol 39:457–460
Mougabure Cueto G, Zerba E, Picollo MI (2008) Evidence of pyrethroid resistance in eggs of Pediculus humanus capitis (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae) from Argentina. J Med Entomol 45:693–697
Mougabure Cueto G, Picollo MI (2010) Response of Pediculus humanus humanus (Pediculidae: Phthiraptera) to water or 70% ethanol immersion and determination of optimal times for measuring toxic effects. Parasitol Res 106:1503–1506
Mumcuoglu KY, Gilard L, Ingber A (2009) New insights in pediculosis and scabies. Expert Rev Dermatol 4:285–302
Picollo MI, Vassena C, Casadío A, Máximo J, Zerba EN (1998) Laboratory studies of susceptibility and resistance to insecticides in Pediculus capitis (Anoplura: Pediculidae). J Med Entomol 35:814–817
Pollack RJ, Kiszewski A, Armstrong P, Hahn C, Wolfe N, Rahman H, Laserson K, Telford S, Spielman A (1999) Differential permethrin susceptibility of head lice sampled in the United States and Borneo. Arch Pediatric Adolescent Med 153:969–973
Priestley C, Burgess IF, Wiliamson E (2006) Lethality of essential oil constituents towards the human louse, Pediculus humanus, and its eggs. Fitoterapia 77:303–309
Rice P, Coats JR (1994) Insecticidal properties of several monoterpenoids to the house fly (diptera: Muscidae), red flour beetle (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) and southern corn rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). J Econ Entomol 87:1172–1179
Rossini C, Castillo L, González A (2008) Plant extract and their components as potential control agents against human head lice. Phytochem Rev 7:51–63
StatSoft Inc (2004) STATISTICA (data analysis software system) version 7.0. http://www.statsoft.com
Tapondjou AL, Adler C, Fontem DA, Bouda H, Recihmuth C (2005) Bioactivities of cymol and essential oils of Cupressus sempervirens and Eucalyptus saligna against Sitophilus zeamais motschulsky and Tribolium confusum du Val. J Stored Prod Res 41:91–102
Toloza A, Zygadlo J, Mougabure Cueto G, Biurrun F, Zerba E, Picollo MI (2006) Fumigant and repellent properties of essential oils and components against permethrin-resistance Pediculus humanus capitis (Anoplura: Pediculidae). J Med Entomol 43:889–895
Toloza A, Vassena C, Gallardo A, Gonzalez Audino P, Picollo MI (2009) Epidemiology of Pediculosis capitis in elementary schools of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Parasitol Res 104:1295–1298
Toloza A, Zygadlo J, Biurrun F, Rotman A Picollo MI (2010) Bioactivity of Argentinean essential oils against permethrin-resistant head lice, Pediculus humanus capitis. J Insect Sci 10:185
Toloza A, Lucía A, Zerba E, Masuh H, Picollo MI (2010) Eucalyptus essential oil toxicity against permethrin-resistant Pediculus humanus capitis (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae). Parasitol Res 106:409–414
Yang Y, Lee S, Lee W, Choi D, Ahn Y (2003) Ovicidal and adulticidal effects of Eugenia caryophyllata bud and leaf oil compounds on Pediculus capitis. J Agric Food Chem 51:4884–4888
Yang Y, Lee H, Clark JM, Ahn Y (2004) Insecticidal activity of plant essential oils against Pediculus humanus capitis (Anoplura: Pediculidae). J Med Entomol 41:699–704
Yang Y, Lee S, Marshall Clark J, Ahn Y (2009) Ovicidal and adulticidal activities of Origanum majorana essential oil constituents against insecticide-susceptible and pyrethroid/malathion-resistant Pediculus humanus capitis. J Agric Food Chem 57:2282–2287
Acknowledgments
We are especially grateful to Hogar Belgrano. This investigation received financial support from ELEA S.A. (Argentina) and the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica (Argentina).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gonzalez-Audino, P., Picollo, M.I., Gallardo, A. et al. Comparative toxicity of oxygenated monoterpenoids in experimental hydroalcoholic lotions to permethrin-resistant adult head lice. Arch Dermatol Res 303, 361–366 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-010-1110-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-010-1110-z