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Activity of increased specific and non-specific esterases and glutathione transferases associated with resistance to permethrin in pediculus humanus capitis (phthiraptera: pediculidae) from Argentina

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Abstract

Enhanced metabolism by oxidative enzymes is a major cause of pyrethroid resistance in insects. In this work, we evaluated the role of specific and non-specific esterases in head louse populations from Buenos Aires with different levels of resistance to permethrin. As esterase activity is substrate-dependent, four different esters were used as unspecific substrates in order to obtain a better characterization of the possible role of these enzymes in the resistance phenomenon. The unspecific substrates were phenylthioacetate, 1- and 2-naphtyl-acetate, and p-nitrophenyl acetate. A 7-coumaryl permethrate was synthesized and used as a specific substrate to measure pyrethroid esterases by a very sensitive microfluorometric method. The results on pyrethroid esterase activity obtained with this substrate showed that these enzymes contribute to the detoxifying activity in resistant populations, although no correlation was found between pyrethroid esterase activity and resistance ratios. In this study, we established that the activity of esterase against specific and non-specific substrates is increased in pyrethroid-resistant populations of head lice from Buenos Aires. Also, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) resistance values demonstrated that there is a DDT cross-resistance phenomenon in pyrethroid-resistant head louse populations and suggested that an alteration in the receptor of the nervous system (kdr gen) is a key factor of the resistance phenomena in these head louse populations.

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Acknowledgements

We are especially grateful to Mercedes Mantesi, Guillermo Valenzuela, Laura Galicio, Rosa Flores, Isabel Cañete and the authorities of the elementary schools where the head lice were collected. MIP, EZ and PGA are members of the National Research Council (CONICET).This investigation received financial support from Laboratorio ELEA S.A. (Argentina) and the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica ANPCyT (Argentina).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones de Plagas e Insecticidas (CITEFA-CONICET), Juan Bautista de La Salle 4397-(B1603ALO), Villa Martelli, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Silvia Barrios, Eduardo Zerba, Maria I. Picollo & Paola Gonzalez Audino

  2. Universidad Nacional de General San Martín. Escuela de Postgrado, Avenida 53 3563, (1650), San Martín, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Eduardo Zerba & Paola Gonzalez Audino

Authors
  1. Silvia Barrios
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  2. Eduardo Zerba
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  3. Maria I. Picollo
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  4. Paola Gonzalez Audino
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Correspondence to Paola Gonzalez Audino.

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Barrios, S., Zerba, E., Picollo, M.I. et al. Activity of increased specific and non-specific esterases and glutathione transferases associated with resistance to permethrin in pediculus humanus capitis (phthiraptera: pediculidae) from Argentina. Parasitol Res 106, 415–421 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-009-1677-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-009-1677-5

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