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Fluazuron-induced morphophysiological changes in the cuticle formation and midgut of Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreille, 1806 (Acari: Ixodidae) nymphs

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Abstract

The present study demonstrated the effects of the arthropod growth regulator, fluazuron (Acatak®), in the formation of the integument and digestive processes of Rhipicephalus sanguineus nymphs fed on rabbits treated with different doses of this chemical acaricide. For this, three different doses of fluazuron (20, 40, or 80 mg/kg) were applied “pour on” to the hosts (groups II, III, and IV), as well as distilled water to the control group. On the first day after treatment (24 h), the hosts were artificially infested with R. sanguineus nymphs. After full engorgement (7 days), the nymphs were removed, placed on labeled Petri dishes, and kept in biochemical oxygen demand incubator for 7 days. The engorged nymphs were then taken for morphological, histochemical, and histological analyses. The results showed the occurrence of cytological, morphohistological, and histochemical alterations in the integument and midgut of nymphs from all the different treated groups. These alterations occurred at cuticular level in the subdivisions of the cuticle, related to the size of the digestive cells, amount of accumulated blood elements, and digestive residues, as well as the presence of vacuoles in the cytoplasm of the digestive cells. Thus, this study demonstrated that fluazuron acts on the integument and midgut cells of R. sanguineus nymphs fed on treated rabbits and pointed out the possibility of the use of this chemical—which is more specific, less toxic, and less harmful to the environment and nontarget organisms—in the control of R. sanguineus, at least in the nymphal stage of its biological cycle.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank to FAPESP (grant no. 2010/50827-0) for financial support and CNPQ academic career research fellowship to G.H. Bechara and M.I. Camargo-Mathias.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biosciences, Sao Paulo State University-UNESP, Av. 24 A, no 1515, P.O. Box 199, 13506-900, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil

    Patrícia Rosa de Oliveira, Izabela Braggião Calligaris, Gislaine Cristina Roma & Maria Izabel Camargo-Mathias

  2. Faculty of Agronomic and Veterinary Sciences, UNESP, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo D. Castellane, s/n, 14884-900, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil

    Gervásio Henrique Bechara

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  1. Patrícia Rosa de Oliveira
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  2. Izabela Braggião Calligaris
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Correspondence to Maria Izabel Camargo-Mathias.

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de Oliveira, P.R., Calligaris, I.B., Roma, G.C. et al. Fluazuron-induced morphophysiological changes in the cuticle formation and midgut of Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreille, 1806 (Acari: Ixodidae) nymphs. Parasitol Res 112, 45–58 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-012-3103-7

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