Identification of Novel Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Mutations in Human Head and Body Lice (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae)

In recent years, the increase of head louse infestation in Iran (7.4%) and especially in West-Azerbaijan Province
(248%) has raised the hypothesis of insecticide resistance development. There are different mechanisms of resistance to various groups of insecticides, and knockdown resistance (kdr) is a prominent mechanism of resistance to pyrethroids, an insecticide group which is used conventionally for pediculosis control. For detection of
kdr-type well-known amino acid substitutions (M815I–T917I–L920F) and additional sodium channel mutations
potentially associated with kdr resistance in head and body lice, louse populations were collected from WestAzerbaijan and Zanjan Provinces of Iran. Six novel mutations were found to be located in the IIS1-2 extracellular
loop (H813P) and IIS5 (I927F, L928A, R929V, L930M, and L932M) of the a-subunit. Genotyping results showed
that all specimens (100%) have at least one of these or the well-known mutations. Therefore, the presence of
kdr-related and novel mutations in the sodium channel is likely to be the reason for the frequent use of pyrethroid insecticides due to treatment failure against lice. Further studies are now required to evaluate the prevalence of the kdr-like mutant allele for monitoring of insecticide resistance and the management of head and
body lice in other provinces of the country