27 August 2025

Repurposing Nitisinone: A Promising New Weapon Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases

A team at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has uncovered another use for a repurposed drug that could be used in the fight against mosquito-borne diseases.

Nitisinone, depicted in yellow, works by being absorbed through surface contact with the mosquito’s tarsi (feet). Scanning electron microsropy image taken by Alan Gunn at LMJU. Image adjustments and false colouring by Lee Haines.

The Rosetrees-funded research led by Dr Lee Haines and talented PhD student Mr Zachary Stavrou-Dowd was recently published in Parasites & Vectors. The team investigated a range of chemicals for the ability to kill different types of mosquitoes. They discovered that one drug in particular, called nitisinone, proved to be by far the most effective, leading to high mortality amongst blood-fed female mosquitoes exposed to the drug through foot contact.

A blood fed female mosquito. Image by Lee Haines.

Crucially, nitisinone can be absorbed by mosquitoes simply by landing on a surface coated with the substance, potentially leading to its use in indoor residual sprays and long-lasting insecticidal nets. The killing of the blood fed mosquitoes did not discriminate between mosquito strains susceptible or highly resistant to other insecticide classes, making it an appealing insecticidal alternative.
Another benefit of the discovery is that nitisinone is already approved for use in humans and currently used as a treatment for tyrosine pathway disorders, meaning that it should be very safe for humans to be exposed to it in their environment, and not much more research will have to be undertaken into its toxicity. 
Hopefully, this research paves the way for another effective tool in the ongoing fight against ever-evolving mosquitoes and the diseases they transmit.

Back to Blogs