Abstract
Insect repellents are widely used to fend off nuisance mosquitoes and, more importantly, to reduce or eliminate mosquito bites in areas where viruses and other vector-borne diseases are circulating. Synthesized more than six decades ago, DEET is the most widely used insect repellent. Plant-derived compounds are used in a plethora of commercial formulations and natural recipes to repel mosquitoes. They are also used as fragrances. We analysed Bombshell® to identify the constituent(s) eliciting a previously reported “off- label” repellence activity. The two major fragrance ingredients in Bombshell, i.e., methyl dihydrojasmonate and lilial, demonstrated strong repellence against the southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, in laboratory assays. Both compounds activated a previously identified DEET-sensitive odorant receptor, CquiOR136. These compounds were also major constituents of Ivanka Trump eau de parfum. The methyl dihydrojasmonate content was higher in the Ivanka Trump perfume than in Bombshell, the reverse being true for lilial. Both Bombshell and Ivanka Trump eaux de parfums retained activity for as long as 6 hours in laboratory assays. Although wearing these perfumes may repel nuisance mosquitoes, their use as “off-label” repellents against infected mosquitoes is not recommended.
Highlights
Insect repellents are used as prophylactic tools for travellers to and people living in endemic or outbreak areas of malaria, dengue, chikungunya, Zika, West Nile fever, encephalitis, and other vector-borne diseases, and for reducing bites by nuisance mosquitoes
The diastereomers (= diastereoisomers) of methyl dihydrojasmonate [IUPAC name: methyl 2-(3-oxo-2-pentylcyclopentyl)acetate] appeared at 13.34 and 13.62 min. Their mass spectral data and GC-FT/IR data (C = O stretching, 1737 cm-1, strong C-H stretching, 2957 cm-1, weak) were indistinguishable from those obtained with an authentic sample of methyl dihydrojasmonate
We identified isopropyl myristate and galaxolide by comparison with authentic samples
Summary
Insect repellents are used as prophylactic tools for travellers to and people living in endemic or outbreak areas of malaria, dengue, chikungunya, Zika, West Nile fever, encephalitis, and other vector-borne diseases, and for reducing bites by nuisance mosquitoes. A plethora of repellents are derived from plants (botanical repellents) and other natural sources [1,2,3], but the synthetic compound N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET) is the most widely used insect repellent. In the United States, there are currently approximately 120 repellent formulations registered with the EPA for direct application on human skin that contain 4–99% DEET [4].
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