Alqurashi Sadeem A, Ahmed Ashraf M, El Gamal Ali A, Al-Massarani Shaza M, Basudan Omer A, Youssef Diaa T A, Shaala Lamiaa A, Khan Muhammad Farooq
Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2457, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
Insects. 2025 Apr 24;16(5):448. doi: 10.3390/insects16050448.
There is a growing need for eco-friendly methods to control disease-carrying insects. The present study aimed to investigate the larvicidal activity of methanolic extracts and their various fractions from a plant, L., and a marine sponge, , against the mosquito, L. Crude methanolic extracts of and were prepared by maceration and successive fractionation were obtained using the liquid-liquid partition of crude extracts. The larvicidal activity of the extracts and their fractions was determined according to the WHO standard method. The results revealed that the -hexane fraction of exhibited the highest larvicidal activity (LC 346.74 μg/mL), exceeding the efficacy of the crude extract and other fractions. Furthermore, the sponge's -hexane (LC 68.39 μg/mL), chloroform (LC 63.03 μg/mL), and -butanol (LC 71.23 μg/mL) fractions showed a significant 3.9 to 4.5 times increase in the larvicidal potency compared to its crude extract (LC = 280.74 μg/mL). The safety of the sponge extracts was tested in the embryos of zebrafish as a non-target organism. In this regard, the crude methanolic extract and -butanol fraction exhibited weak toxicity and chloroform fraction showed no detectable toxicity. This study suggests the sponge as a source for developing safe natural substitutes for use in the battle against mosquito, which may help in reducing the spread of mosquito vectors and mosquito-borne diseases.
对控制携带疾病昆虫的环保方法的需求日益增长。本研究旨在调查一种植物（L.）和一种海洋海绵（）的甲醇提取物及其不同馏分对蚊虫（L.）的杀幼虫活性。通过浸渍法制备了和的粗甲醇提取物，并使用粗提取物的液 - 液分配法获得连续馏分。根据世界卫生组织标准方法测定提取物及其馏分的杀幼虫活性。结果显示，的正己烷馏分表现出最高的杀幼虫活性（LC₅₀ = 346.74 μg/mL），超过了粗提取物和其他馏分的效力。此外，海绵的正己烷（LC₅₀ = 68.39 μg/mL）、氯仿（LC₅₀ = 63.03 μg/mL）和正丁醇（LC₅₀ = 71.23 μg/mL）馏分与粗提取物（LC₅₀ = 280.74 μg/mL）相比，杀幼虫效力显著提高了3.9至4.5倍。作为非靶标生物，在斑马鱼胚胎中测试了海绵提取物的安全性。在这方面，粗甲醇提取物和正丁醇馏分表现出较弱的毒性，氯仿馏分未显示出可检测到的毒性。本研究表明，海绵可作为开发用于对抗蚊虫的安全天然替代品的来源，这可能有助于减少蚊虫媒介和蚊媒疾病的传播。
