In Vitro Efficacy of Terpenes from Essential Oils against Sarcoptes scabiei

The miteSarcoptes scabieiis responsible for the emerging or re-emerging skin disease called scabies in humans and sarcoptic mange in animals. Essential oils represent an appealing alternative strategy for the control ofSarcoptesinfections, but the commercial development of essential oils may be hampered by their inconsistency in efficacy due to their varied chemical compositions. In order to address this issue, we assessed the efficacy of six components (carvacrol, eugenol, geraniol, citral, terpinen-4-ol, and linalool) againstS. scabiei. At a concentration of 0.5%, carvacrol presented the best miticidal efficacy, with a median lethal time (LT50) value of 6.7 min, followed by eugenol (56.3 min), geraniol (1.8 h), citral (6.1 h), terpinen-4-ol (22.3 h), and linalool (39.9 h). The LC50values at 30 min for carvacrol, eugenol, and geraniol were 0.24, 0.79, and 0.91%, respectively. In conclusion, carvacrol, eugenol, and geraniol represent potential complementary or alternative agents forS. scabieiinfections in humans or animals. Our study provides a scientific basis for the development of scabicidal products based on essential oils.Keywords:Sarcoptes scabiei;scabies;terpenes;essential oils