GC-EAG analysis of human odours that attract the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto

A coupled gas-chromatography-electroantennography (GC-EAG) method was used to identify kairomones that mediate the host-seeking behaviour of An. gambiae. Nylon stockings that had been worn by human volunteers were found to be highly attractive to female An. gambiae in olfactometer experiments. Tenax-trapped headspace of 15 pairs of stockings and extracts thereof were analysed with GC-EAG. EAG responses were detected repeatedly at 23 retention times, and 14 compounds were identified that elicited on-line EAG responses. The role of these compounds as kairomones in the host-seeking behaviour of An. gambiae is discussed.

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