Antimicrobial, Antiprotozoal, and Toxic Activities of Cnidarian Extracts from the Mexican Caribbean Sea

Abstract

Antimicrobial, antiprotozoal, and toxic activities of crude extracts obtained from six cnidarian species [Cassiopea xamachana (R.R. Bigelow, 1892), Carybdea marsupialis (Linné, 1758), Linuche unguiculata (Swartz, 1788), Bartholomea annulata (Leseur, 1817), Lebrunia danae (Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1860), and Stichodactyla helianthus (Ellis, 1768)] from the Mexican Caribbean Sea were studied. The extract obtained from Linuche unguiculata was found to be the most active against the yeast Candida albicans and the protozoan Giardia lamblia with 24 mm of inhibition zone diameter and an IC 50 of 63.2 mg mL À1 , respectively. Additionally, in an effort to assess the effects caused by the treatment of cnidarian's toxins in vertebrates, we used tilapias (Oreochromis niloticus) as a laboratory model. The results showed that only 44 mg kg À1 of jellyfish (Carybdea marsupialis) toxin were necessary to cause significant mortality in fish. Tilapias treated with the Stichodactyla toxin demonstrated hemolytic damage and cellular abnormalities.

Upside-Down but Headed in the Right Direction: Review of the Highly Versatile Cassiopea xamachana System

“…Neurotoxic effects were also identified in two of Cassiopea's nematocyst types (birhopaloid and a-isorhiza) (Gülşahin, 2015). The ease at which Cassiopea can be collected globally in mangroves and cultured in the lab, provides a clear advantage to studying this species' venom, which has antitumor and antiprotozoal properties that may serve as future novel pharmacological and therapeutics agents (Orduña-Novoa et al, 2003;Morales-Landa et al, 2007;Mirshamsi et al, 2017). A recent study showed that Cassiopea crude venom induced apoptosis in human breast cancer tissue via reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediated cytotoxicity (Mirshamsi et al, 2017).…”

Antimicrobials from Cnidarians. A New Perspective for Anti-Infective Therapy?

“…Regarding cubozoans, Morales-Landa et al [ 102 ] tested the activity of crude extracts from Carybdea marsupialis (Carybdeida) against bacteria Streptococcus faecalis , B. subtilis , M. luteus , E. coli , K. pneumoniae , Serratia marcescens , S. typhi , and fungi C. albicans ; 10 μg/mL did not produce any damage to microorganisms.…”

“…A small amount (2%) of Giardia duodenalis was resistant to the sea anemone venoms. Subsequently, the activity of the extract from the jellyfish Linuche unguiculata against Giardia lamblia (IC 50 = 63.2 μg/mL; 95% confidence interval: 63.3–63.1) was reported [ 102 ]. The same paper reports the antiprotozoal activity of extracts from other cnidarians against Giardia lamblia , but all IC 50 values ( Cassiopea xamachana = 226 μg/mL; Bartholomea annulata = 316 μg/mL; Lebrunia danae = 631 μg/mL; Stichodactyla helianthus = 1338 μg/mL) showed little effectiveness [ 102 ].…”

Hemolytic, anticancer and antigiardial activity of Palythoa caribaeorum venom

“…However, the antimicrobial activity of such extracts has been little explored. A few reports can be found in the literature about the antiparasitic and antibacterial properties of some cnidarians and even an antimicrobial peptide isolated from Aurelia aurita has been sequenced [ 16 , 17 ].…”