Magnetic nanoparticles are highly toxic to chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum, dengue virus (DEN-2), and their mosquito vectors.
A main challenge in parasitology is the development of reliable tools to prevent or treat mosquito-borne diseases. We investigated the toxicity of magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) produced by Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense (strain MSR-1) on chloroquine-resistant (CQ-r) and sensitive (CQ-s) Plasmodium falciparum, dengue virus (DEN-2), and two of their main vectors, Anopheles stephensi and Aedes aegypti, respectively. MNP were studied by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. They were toxic to larvae and pupae of An. stephensi, LC50ranged from 2.563 ppm (1st instar larva) to 6.430 ppm (pupa), and Ae. aegypti, LC50ranged from 3.231 ppm (1st instar larva) to 7.545 ppm (pupa). MNP IC50on P. falciparum were 83.32 μg ml-1(CQ-s) and 87.47 μg ml-1(CQ-r). However, the in vivo efficacy of MNP on Plasmodium berghei was low if compared to CQ-based treatments. Moderate cytotoxicity was detected on Vero cells post-treatment with MNP doses lower than 4 μg ml-1. MNP evaluated at 2-8 μg ml-1inhibited DEN-2 replication inhibiting the expression of the envelope (E) protein. In conclusion, our findings represent the first report about the use of MNP in medical and veterinary entomology, proposing them as suitable materials to develop reliable tools to combat mosquito-borne diseases.
Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India.
Kadarkarai
K
Murugan
College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China.
Jiang
J
Wei
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Research Chair in Laser Diagnosis of Cancer, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Mohamad Saleh
MS
Alsalhi
Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy.
Marcello
M
Nicoletti
Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India.
Manickam
M
Paulpandi
Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India.
Christina Mary
CM
Samidoss
Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India.
Devakumar
D
Dinesh
Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India.
Balamurugan
B
Chandramohan
Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, 71491, Saudi Arabia.
Chellasamy
C
Paneerselvam
Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India.
Jayapal
J
Subramaniam
Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India.
Chithravel
C
Vadivalagan
Institute of Plant Protection, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350013, China.
Hui
H
Wei
Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India.
Pandiyan
P
Amuthavalli
Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India.
Anitha
A
Jaganathan
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Research Chair in Laser Diagnosis of Cancer, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Sandhanasamy
S
Devanesan
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Central University, No. 300 Jhongli, Taoyuan, 32001, Taiwan.
Akon
A
Higuchi
Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia.
Suresh
S
Kumar
Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, 71491, Saudi Arabia.
Al Thabiani
AT
Aziz
Department of Physics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.
Devaraj
D
Nataraj
Biomaterials and Biotechnology in Animal Health Lab, Department of Animal Health and Management, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, 630004, Tamil Nadu, India.
Baskaralingam
B
Vaseeharan
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, via del Borghetto 80, 56124, Pisa, Italy.
Angelo
A
Canale
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, via del Borghetto 80, 56124, Pisa, Italy. benelli.giovanni@gmail.com.
Giovanni
G
Benelli
D000330:Aedes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D002738:Chloroquine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D004351:Drug Resistance; D007306:Insecticides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles / Q000633:toxicity*; D000072138:Mosquito Vectors / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D014709:Vero Cells
D007306:Insecticides; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D002738:Chloroquine
Antiviral activity; Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense; Magnetotactic bacteria; Malaria; Yellow fever; Zika virus