In vitro acaricidal activity of extracts from 16 traditional Chinese medicines against Psoroptes ovis var. cuniculi

ABSTRACT

The in vitro acaricidal activities of 16 different traditional Chinese medicines against Psoroptes ovis var. cuniculi were evaluated using extracts prepared by water decocting and ethanol thermal circumfluence. The decoction extracts of Leonurus japonicus, Euphorbia lunulata, and Pyrethrum carneum had strong toxicities towards mites, as did mixtures of the aqueous extracts of L. japonicus and E. lunulata. The mixture containing aqueous extracts of L. japonicus and E. lunulata in a 1:1 ratio killed all mites within 6 h, and mixtures with ratios of 1:0 and 0.5:1 also exhibited strong toxicity. The results indicated that L. japonicus and E. lunulata contain potent acaricidal ingredients.

KEYWORDS:

• Psoroptes ovis var. cuniculi
• Leonurus japonicas
• Euphorbia lunulata
• water decoction
• acaricidal activity

Acknowledgements

Yuqing Liang performed the majority of the study, analysed the data, and contributed to manuscript writing. Cheng Guo and Xiaobin Gu provided technical assistance. Chunlin Fang, Qinghua Ye, and Xuerong Peng contributed to partial acaricidal study and discussion. Guang-you Yang conceived and designated the study plan, participated in all aspects of the study, provided funds, supervised the research. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. We are grateful to Hai-Han Yang, Chao Li, Zong-Xiu Zhu, Yuan-Kun Chen, and You-Ping Li (Sichuan Engineering Research Center for New Veterinary Drug, Chengdu, China) for their technical assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Chengdu Research of Giant Panda Breeding [CPF2014-22].