Each year, mosquito-borne diseases infect nearly 700 million people, resulting to more than 1 million deaths. In this study, we evaluated the larvicidal, pupicidal, and smoke toxicity of Senna occidentalis and Ocimum basilicum leaf extracts against the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi. Furthermore, the antiplasmodial activity of plant extracts was evaluated against chloroquine (CQ)-resistant (CQ-r) and CQ-sensitive (CQ-s) strains of Plasmodium falciparum. In larvicidal and pupicidal experiments, S. occidentalis LC50 ranged from 31.05 (I instar larvae) to 75.15 ppm (pupae), and O. basilicum LC50 ranged from 29.69 (I instar larvae) to 69 ppm (pupae). Smoke toxicity experiments conducted against adults showed that S. occidentalis and O. basilicum coils evoked mortality rates comparable to the pyrethrin-based positive control (38, 52, and 42%, respectively). In antiplasmodial assays, Senna occidentalis 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) were 48.80 μg/ml (CQ-s) and 54.28 μg/ml (CQ-r), while O. basilicum IC50 were 68.14 μg/ml (CQ-s) and 67.27 μg/ml (CQ-r). Overall, these botanicals could be considered as potential sources of metabolites to build newer and safer malaria control tools.
Petroleum ether, acetone, ethyl acetate, aqueous extract, methanol and ethanol fractionate of Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms was tested for their larvicidal efficacy against the different instars (I, II, III and IV) and pupae of Culex quinquefasciatus Say. The larval mortality was observed after 24 h of the treatment. The extracts showed a dose-dependent toxicity to larvae. The toxicity of the extracts decreased with increase in larval stage. Ethanol fractionate of E. crassipes showed the highest larvicidal and pupicidal activity against C. quinquefasciatus compared to other solvent extracts and fractionates with LC(50) 71.43, 94.68,120.42, 152.15 and 173.35 ppm for I, II, III, IV and pupae, respectively. Presence of metabolites like flavonoids, alkaloids, anthroquinones and anthocyanins in the tested extracts might be the reason for the larvicidal and pupicidal activity of the plant extracts and fractionates of waterhyacinth. Mosquito-repellent activity was not exhibited by these extracts at the tested concentrations. The results demonstrated the potential of the aquatic plant E. crassipes in the successful control of the filarial vector C. quinquefasciatus.
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