An examination of the cardiovascular effects of an ‘Irukandji’ jellyfish, Alatina nr mordens

Cardiovascular Toxicity from Marine Envenomation

“…79 However, as crude venom extract and not pure extracted venom was used in these studies, and as subsequent research has found toxic components in tentacle extract devoid of nematocyst material, as well as cardiac response to this same material, these results must be viewed with some reservations. 79,80,82 Subsequent laboratory studies have used the refined venom extraction technique. 77,84 These investigations showed some comparable cardiac effects, including severe pressor responses from the venom of Carukia barnesi and Alatina nr mordens, which is approximately 3 to 5 times less potent than that of C. barnesi, supporting the theory of a venom-induced catecholamine release after intravenous venom administration.…”

“…77,84 These investigations showed some comparable cardiac effects, including severe pressor responses from the venom of Carukia barnesi and Alatina nr mordens, which is approximately 3 to 5 times less potent than that of C. barnesi, supporting the theory of a venom-induced catecholamine release after intravenous venom administration. 80,82 Interestingly, pressor responses do not appear to be dose-dependent, suggesting that the venom may be inducing a release of catecholamine into the circulation and does not actually contain a direct vasopressor itself. 80,82 In support of this, data exist that suggest that the venom from at least one species of Irukandji jellyfish (Carukia barnesi) is noncytotoxic.…”

“…80,82 Interestingly, pressor responses do not appear to be dose-dependent, suggesting that the venom may be inducing a release of catecholamine into the circulation and does not actually contain a direct vasopressor itself. 80,82 In support of this, data exist that suggest that the venom from at least one species of Irukandji jellyfish (Carukia barnesi) is noncytotoxic. 85 The administration of prazosin, which is an α-1 adrenoreceptor antagonist, in envenomed test animals both reduced the venom-induced pressor response and inhibited the tachycardia, supporting the hypothesis that this has an indirect rather than a direct effect on the peripheral vasculature and also not a direct β-adrenergic effect.…”

Abundance patterns of cubozoans on and near the Great Barrier Reef

“…Cubozoans that pose threats to humans occur in tropical waters of many parts of the world (Fenner & Lippmann, 2009). The threat of cubozoans has given great focus to the nature of venoms (Nagai et al, 2000;Underwood & Seymour, 2007), geographic variation in venoms (Winter et al, 2009), affects on patients (Winter et al, 2008;Tiong, 2009), and the development of antivenoms. Although there is a diversity of dangerous cubozoan medusae in tropical waters, knowledge of their ecology is poor.…”

Application of nanoLC–MS/MS to the shotgun proteomic analysis of the nematocyst proteins from jellyfish Stomolophus meleagris

“…The nematocyst, which is predominantly in the surface of jellyfish tentacles, contains many complex and diversiform biomolecules with plenty of activities, such as hemolytic activity, lethal activity, cytotoxic activity, neurotoxic activity, insecticidal activity, antioxidant activity, cardiovascular activity, enzyme activity and other potential activities [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. As a result, increasing attention had been attracted to investigate the jellyfish nematocyst proteins, including bioactivity analysis, isolation, and identification of bioactive molecules.…”