Larvicidal actvity of constituents from the main Brazilian propolis types: green, red, and brown against Aedes aegypti

Authors: RIBEIRO, VICTOR - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE); BASTOS, JAIRO - Universidade De Sao Paulo; Estep Iii, Alden; Meepagala, Kumudini

Submitted to: ACS Omega
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/5/2024
Publication Date: 8/5/2024
Citation: Ribeiro, V.P., Bastos, J.K., Estep Iii, A.S., Meepagala, K.M. 2024. Larvicidal actvity of constituents from the main Brazilian propolis types: green, red, and brown against Aedes aegypti. ACS Omega. 9:35560-35566. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.4c03132.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.4c03132

Interpretive Summary: The mosquito species Aedes aegypti is responsible for spreading diseases such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever and other viruses that can cause severe morbidity and mortality among the general public and military personnel. The female mosquitoes need a blood meal for producing eggs. Since Aedes aegypti mosquitoes prefer to feed on people for a blood meal, these mosquitoes spread viruses among humans more than other mosquito species. In our search for effective and environmentally friendly mosquito control agents, we have examined the compounds isolated from Brazilian -red, -brown and -green propolis. Honeybees collect plant resins in their habitats and mix them with saliva to produce propolis. They then use this to seal the beehive. Since propolis compounds come from the plants in the respective geographical region, they can have plant derived compounds or modified plant compounds that can have biological activities.

Technical Abstract: In search for environmentally benign and mammalian friendly mosquito mitigating compounds, we investigated the constituents isolated from Brazilian -red, -brown and -green propolis. We have also synthetically modified active constituents to see if lipophilicity plays a role in enhancing larvicide and adulticide activities. Honeybees collect plant resins in their habitats, mix them with saliva and use these to seal the beehive. The constituents found in propolis are unique to a given geographical location related to the flora in that region. As part of the plant natural defense mechanism, the propolis compounds can have antibacterial, insecticidal, and phytotoxic activities. Several insecticides have the enzyme acetylcholinesterase as the target site, so we performed the in-silico studies of interactions between the propolis compounds and acetylcholinesterase by molecular docking. In this study we report the mosquito larvicidal activities of constituents from propolis.