Comet assay in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae): genotoxic effect of chemicals on neuroblasts

Abstract

Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti is the main vector of the viruses that cause dengue, chikungunya, urban yellow fever, and Zika viruses, whose control is carried out mainly via chemical insecticides. Studies on the genotoxic effect of insecticides on these mosquitoes are hampered due to the lack of detection of genomic lesions. As such, we used the comet assay method in larvae of A. aegypti treated with concentrations of 1, 2 and 3% of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), 0.002, 0.005 and 0.007 μg/mL of temephos (TE), 0.05, 0.5 and 1.0 mM of cyclophosphamide (CPA) for 4 h, for detection of possible DNA damage. Our results demonstrated that this test is effective in A. aegypti neuroblasts, which indicates possibilities for further studies using new candidate substances for the control of this important vector of arboviruses.