When cats are exposed to catnip or silver wine, they exhibit fairly predictable behaviors such as licking and chewing the leaves, rubbing their head and face against the plants, and rolling on the ground. Cats get a real kick out of these plants, but surprising new research points to a more practical goal than just wanting to get high.
Nepetalactol – the most powerful active ingredient in catnip (Nepeta cataria) and silver vine (Actinidia polygama) —Provides cats with chemical defense against mosquitoes, says new Research published in Science Advances. The discovery could explain why felines, whether domesticated cats or colossal jungle predators, exhibit similar behavior after being exposed to these plants.
The new research, led by Masao Miyazaki of Iwate University in Japan, provides new insights into nepetalactol and how it affects feline behavior and their opioid receptors. That nepetalactol Scaring off mosquitoes is a stunning revelation, and it could result in an entirely new class of repellants, the researchers said. Nepetalactol had previously been associated with repellant activity, but “our data is the first to show this,” Miyazaki explains in an email.
In addition, the new paper is the “first to demonstrate that nepetalactol is a potent bioactive for cats”. Indeed, it is no secret that the chemical has some kind of neurological effect on cats, but catnip, a plant of the mint family, and silver vine, a type of kiwi, contain an abundance of other bioactive compounds, such as isoiridomyrmecin, iridomyrmecin, isodihydrone petalactone and dihydrone petalactone. Miyazaki and his colleagues, including researchers from Nagoya University in Japan and the University of Liverpool in the UK, focused on nepetalactol for its suspected potency.
After coming into contact with catnip and silver wine, cats start to display stereotypical behaviors such as rubbing their heads and faces against the plants, rolling on the ground and giving the impression of euphoria. This will take about five up to 15 minutes and is followed by the crash phase, in which the cats lounge for about an hour or more. The effect these plants have on cats has been known for centuries, but scientists don’t fully understand the purpose of all this, such as a biological or evolutionary reason for it – assuming it not just some idiosyncratic coincidence that has to do with the feline brain.
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For more information, the team studied a number of different felines, including 25 laboratory cats, 30 feral cats and several captive big cats, including leopards, jaguars and lynxes. They documented the cats’ reactions filter paper laced with nepetalactol. All it cats showed the classic behavioral response. D.ogs and mice to the chemical showed no response.
The scientists also studied the reactions of the cats to some of the other bioactive agents found and found in silver vine nepetalactol to be the most powerful.
“This study has shown that … nepetalactol is the major bioactive compound in the leaves of the silver vine that typically induces rubbing and rolling in cats,” the authors write in their study. “Furthermore, nepetalactol had a similar bioactivity in the Amur leopard, the jaguar and the Eurasian lynx. Like most [feline] Species tested so far have shown positive responses to catnip (13 out of 21 tested species out of a total of 41 living species in this family), it is likely that this characteristic response to nepetalactol will also occur in many species. [felines]. “
The group also measured the cats ‘endorphin levels both before and after exposure, finding that cats’ response to nepetalactol is regulated by their opioid system; Increased endorphin levels were only observed after exposure to nepetalactol. What’s more, when the scientists suppressed their opioid receptors with special drugs, the cats no longer displayed their signature behavior when exposed to the chemical.
As regards the role of silver vine as a possible mosquito repellent, the researchers discovered WhichTs with fur covered in nepetalactol attracted significantly less mosquitoes, especially the species A. albopictus, than the untreated control groupin some cases even half.
“These results show that nepetalactol, which is transferred to the coat of the face and head by rubbing against silver vine leaves, acts as a repellent against A. albopictus in cats, ”the authors write. “This is compelling evidence that the characteristic rubbing and rolling response works to transfer plant chemicals that repel mosquitoes.”
This, the authors argue, could explain why behavior evolved. The cats get high from these plants, roll around in the leaves and are unwittingly protected from mosquitoes. This theory makes sense, but scientists now need to explain why this behavior is not seen in other animals, and whether the repellent action actually takes place in nature, not just in a lab environment. We also need to know whether nepetalactol is repellent A. aegypti, the mosquito responsible for spreading yellow fever, dengue and zika.
Miyazaki said there may be a very good reason why felines developed this special relationship with catnip and silver tendril. Many felines “rely on stealth to stalk and ambush their prey,” demanding that they remain still and quiet, he said. A repellent that “reduces their susceptibility to both the irritation of biting mosquitoes and the diseases these insect vectors carry is likely to provide a strong selective advantage.” This explains why this trait has been retained by many cat species, but it “doesn’t explain why the behavior has evolved only in felines,” Miyazaki said.
One possible explanation is that an ancestor of modern cats developed special olfactory receptors perhaps a “crucial pre-adaptation” that provided an opportunity for this behavior to develop, Miyazaki speculated.
Looking ahead, the team aims to identify the olfactory receptors linked to nepetalactol, as well as the genes responsible for behavior. Miyazaki said team members tested nepetalactol on their arms, and it seemed to keep the mosquitoes away. But this “is for patent data only,” he said.
Ah yes, the almighty dollar. But this is one case where good science could lead to a good and welcome commercial product. Indeed, the researchers may have stumbled upon a new type of mosquito repellent, but time will tell if it really works better than conventional repellants. and when it makes economic and practical sense to synthesize this compound in large quantities.