Natural and controlled release nano repellent to prevent Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya diseases

• Grant number: 16/06103-4
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Duration: February 01, 2017 - December 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Convênio/Acordo: FINEP - PIPE/PAPPE Grant
• Principal Investigator: Amanda Luizetto dos Santos
• Grantee: Amanda Luizetto dos Santos
• Host Company: Nanomed Nanotecnologia em Saúde e Bem-Estar Eireli
• City: São Carlos
• Associated researchers: Cristina Aparecida Diagone Fontana de Souza ; Thiago Cardoso Cruz
• Associated scholarship(s): 18/13617-0 - Natural and controlled release nano repellent to prevent zika, dengue and chikungunya diseases, BP.TT; 18/04991-5 - Long lasting natural repellent to prevent Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya diseases, BP.TT

Abstract

The Ministry of Health estimates that in 2015, the cases of Zika in Brazil were between 500,000 and 1.5 million, with estimated 3-4 million cases in 2016 to the American continent, where 1.5 million of these in Brazil, according the Pan American Health Organization.The number of deaths or nervous system problem shows an increase in reported cases being investigated by the Ministry of Health, 3.67 million suspected cases of microcephaly, with 404 cases already confirmed and other neurological problems. The increase in cases of microcephaly in Brazil caused by Zika, in addition to cases of dengue and chikungunya caused a national emergency health in order to fight off the mosquito Aedes aegypti and prevent diseases acquired by this vector, and consequently, its sequels. At the time, many groups are developing vaccines to zika, and there are already successful projects for dengue as the Butantan Institute and Sanofi Pasteur, whose vaccine is already registered in Brazil. Immunization is a very interesting alternative, however, there are significant problems associated with such vaccines that may be not used by pregnant women, and is an invasive and painful technique.Topical repellents are an affordable and acceptable option for people to protect this epidemic, especially in pregnant women. In 2015, Brazil became the world's fourth largest market in topics repellents consumer, behind the United States, Canada and Argentina. Sales recorded in this period increased the revenue from R$ 145.4 million to R$ 217.4 million, the highest in the history of the category, with advance forecast to 2016. Currently, there are available on the domestic market some synthetic and natural repellents which the most used is DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) due to its effectiveness and persistence in the skin. However, DEET has small spectrum repellency and associated risk health toxicity. In other way, there are products for DEET replacement based in icaridine / picaridin and IR3535®, which have lower toxicity and more effective than DEET, but meet the long-term requirements and/or low risk to desirable health. Clove oil has the major constituent eugenol, known for his pronounced repellent activity against insects and arthropods which magnitude compared to the reference DEET repellent. However, the same feature that confers insect repellent activity is a negative point due to losses by volatilization and oxidative degradation.Controlled delivery system is an alternative and usually uses the active encapsulation in polymeric matrices or viscous media, allowing a slower release to the media. The system development with high load encapsulation and low toxicity may be reached with nanotechnology. Recently, a lot of nanosystems are used in medicine, for encapsulation of numerous actives, which once they are in the body may be released selectively and sustainable. These systems are interested labile and volatile products, especially for the protection of the active in its matrices. The eugenol nanosystems allows its encapsulation in nanometric and micrometric particles, using natural polymers. Preliminary tests showed that eugenol particles have a huge potential as repellent, meeting the requirements of regulatory agencies, as Anvisa and EPA. So, at the end of this project it will be possible the obtain the first nanorepellent with long lasting, natural and low toxicity, which means tranquility to the population and costs reduction related to the treatment. (AU)