Effect of increased secretion of ‘acetophenone’
‘Isothrenoin’ repels mosquitoes
With the onset of hot and humid summer, mosquitoes are also on the rise. Mosquitoes that suck human blood are females, seeking humans for the protein they need to spawn. Even in the same place, there are people who are particularly prone to mosquito bites. Mosquitoes prefer people who breathe a lot and exhale a lot of carbon dioxide or who have a high body temperature and sweat a lot.
Recently, a research team at the University of Washington in the United States published the research result that red is also a factor attracting mosquitoes in the international scientific journal ‘Nature Communications’ in the field of basic science and engineering. Another requirement is added here. People infected with the virus are more likely to be bitten by mosquitoes than healthy people.
A joint research team from Tsinghua University Medical School, Shenzhen Institute of Infectious Diseases, Ruili Chinese Medicine Hospital, Yunnan Institute of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and University of Connecticut Medical School in the United States found that hosts infected with dengue fever or Zika virus secrete a chemical that mosquitoes like and produce more of them. gave the result of being bitten. This study was published in the July 1st issue of the international academic journal ‘Cell’ in the field of life sciences. The research team extracted and analyzed body odors from people infected with dengue fever and Zika virus and the general public. As a result, it was found that people infected with the virus had abnormally higher levels of a substance called ‘acetophenone’ than those who were not. Acetophenone is an aromatic compound found in fruits, cheese, herbs, and honey, and is also used in perfumery. In an experiment using mice, the research team observed that mosquitoes sucked more blood from virus-infected mice than from uninfected mice.
“Mosquitoes are insects with a well-developed sense of smell,” said Gong Cheng, a professor of pathology and mosquito infectious disease at Tsinghua University Medical School. It bites less,” he said.
Reporter Yoo Yong-ha