Fipronil prevents transmission of Lyme disease spirochetes
Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness caused by Borrelia spirochetes, poses a significant threat to public health. While acaricides effectively control ticks on pets and livestock, their impact on pathogen transmission is often unclear. This study investigated the acaricidal efficacy of fipronil agains...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2024-08-01
|
| Series: | Parasitology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0031182024001136/type/journal_article |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832590805980676096 |
|---|---|
| author | Radek Šíma Adéla Palusová Tereza Hatalová Luise Robbertse Petra Berková Martin Moos Petr Kopáček Veronika Urbanová Jan Perner Ala Tabor |
| author_facet | Radek Šíma Adéla Palusová Tereza Hatalová Luise Robbertse Petra Berková Martin Moos Petr Kopáček Veronika Urbanová Jan Perner Ala Tabor |
| author_sort | Radek Šíma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness caused by Borrelia spirochetes, poses a significant threat to public health. While acaricides effectively control ticks on pets and livestock, their impact on pathogen transmission is often unclear. This study investigated the acaricidal efficacy of fipronil against Ixodes ricinus ticks and its potential to block Borrelia afzelii transmission. Initially, we employed the ex vivo membrane blood-feeding system to assess the dose–response acaricidal activity of ivermectin, fipronil and its metabolite fipronil sulfone, when supplemented in the blood meal throughout tick feeding. To obtain the temporal resolution of their acaricidal activity, ticks were allowed to initiate blood feeding on an artificial membrane before being exposed to a 1-time topical application of these acaricides. Fipronil demonstrated superior speed of acaricidal activity, with onset of tick moribundity within a few hours, prompting its selection for further in vivo testing with Borrelia-infected ticks. The I. ricinus nymphs infected with B. afzelii were topically treated with fipronil shortly after attachment to mice. Four weeks post-feeding, the skin and internal organs were examined for the presence of Borrelia. No spirochetes were detected in any organ of mice exposed to fipronil-treated ticks, while 9 out of 10 control mice, exposed to non-treated infectious ticks, displayed Borrelia infection. The in vitro co-culture experiments confirmed that fipronil had no direct effect on Borrelia viability, indicating a tick-directed effect. Overall, these results underline the potential of fipronil as a valuable tool for tick control strategies and suggest a concept for acaricide-mediated Borrelia-transmission blockers. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3ad9654256b541a6a18e887ca87b3058 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0031-1820 1469-8161 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-08-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Parasitology |
| spelling | doaj-art-3ad9654256b541a6a18e887ca87b30582025-01-23T07:11:40ZengCambridge University PressParasitology0031-18201469-81612024-08-0115195396110.1017/S0031182024001136Fipronil prevents transmission of Lyme disease spirochetesRadek Šíma0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5058-4476Adéla Palusová1Tereza Hatalová2Luise Robbertse3Petra Berková4Martin Moos5Petr Kopáček6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2412-5724Veronika Urbanová7Jan Perner8https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7719-4251Ala TaborInstitute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic Biopticka Laborator, Plzen, Czech RepublicInstitute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech RepublicInstitute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech RepublicInstitute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech RepublicInstitute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech RepublicInstitute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech RepublicInstitute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech RepublicInstitute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech RepublicInstitute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech RepublicLyme disease, a tick-borne illness caused by Borrelia spirochetes, poses a significant threat to public health. While acaricides effectively control ticks on pets and livestock, their impact on pathogen transmission is often unclear. This study investigated the acaricidal efficacy of fipronil against Ixodes ricinus ticks and its potential to block Borrelia afzelii transmission. Initially, we employed the ex vivo membrane blood-feeding system to assess the dose–response acaricidal activity of ivermectin, fipronil and its metabolite fipronil sulfone, when supplemented in the blood meal throughout tick feeding. To obtain the temporal resolution of their acaricidal activity, ticks were allowed to initiate blood feeding on an artificial membrane before being exposed to a 1-time topical application of these acaricides. Fipronil demonstrated superior speed of acaricidal activity, with onset of tick moribundity within a few hours, prompting its selection for further in vivo testing with Borrelia-infected ticks. The I. ricinus nymphs infected with B. afzelii were topically treated with fipronil shortly after attachment to mice. Four weeks post-feeding, the skin and internal organs were examined for the presence of Borrelia. No spirochetes were detected in any organ of mice exposed to fipronil-treated ticks, while 9 out of 10 control mice, exposed to non-treated infectious ticks, displayed Borrelia infection. The in vitro co-culture experiments confirmed that fipronil had no direct effect on Borrelia viability, indicating a tick-directed effect. Overall, these results underline the potential of fipronil as a valuable tool for tick control strategies and suggest a concept for acaricide-mediated Borrelia-transmission blockers.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0031182024001136/type/journal_articleacaricideBorrelia afzeliiex vivo membrane blood feedingfipronilivermectinIxodes ricinusLyme diseasespirochetesticks |
| spellingShingle | Radek Šíma Adéla Palusová Tereza Hatalová Luise Robbertse Petra Berková Martin Moos Petr Kopáček Veronika Urbanová Jan Perner Ala Tabor Fipronil prevents transmission of Lyme disease spirochetes Parasitology acaricide Borrelia afzelii ex vivo membrane blood feeding fipronil ivermectin Ixodes ricinus Lyme disease spirochetes ticks |
| title | Fipronil prevents transmission of Lyme disease spirochetes |
| title_full | Fipronil prevents transmission of Lyme disease spirochetes |
| title_fullStr | Fipronil prevents transmission of Lyme disease spirochetes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fipronil prevents transmission of Lyme disease spirochetes |
| title_short | Fipronil prevents transmission of Lyme disease spirochetes |
| title_sort | fipronil prevents transmission of lyme disease spirochetes |
| topic | acaricide Borrelia afzelii ex vivo membrane blood feeding fipronil ivermectin Ixodes ricinus Lyme disease spirochetes ticks |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0031182024001136/type/journal_article |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT radeksima fipronilpreventstransmissionoflymediseasespirochetes AT adelapalusova fipronilpreventstransmissionoflymediseasespirochetes AT terezahatalova fipronilpreventstransmissionoflymediseasespirochetes AT luiserobbertse fipronilpreventstransmissionoflymediseasespirochetes AT petraberkova fipronilpreventstransmissionoflymediseasespirochetes AT martinmoos fipronilpreventstransmissionoflymediseasespirochetes AT petrkopacek fipronilpreventstransmissionoflymediseasespirochetes AT veronikaurbanova fipronilpreventstransmissionoflymediseasespirochetes AT janperner fipronilpreventstransmissionoflymediseasespirochetes AT alatabor fipronilpreventstransmissionoflymediseasespirochetes |