Cnidarian Jellyfish: Ecological Aspects, Nematocyst Isolation, and Treatment Methods of Sting

Abstract

Cnidarians play an important role in ecosystem functioning, in the competition among species, and for possible utilization of several active compounds against cardiovascular, nervous, endocrine, immune, infective, and inflammatory disorders or having antitumoral properties, which have been extracted from these organisms. Nevertheless, notwithstanding these promising features, the main reason for which cnidarians are known is due to their venomousness as they have a serious impact on public health as well as in economy being able to affect some human activities. For this reason a preeminent subject of the research about cnidarians is the organization of proper systems and methods of care and treatment of stinging. This chapter aims to present the data about the morphological, ecological, toxicological, epidemiological, and therapeutic aspects regarding cnidarians with the purpose to summarize the existing knowledge and to stimulate future perspectives in the research on these organisms.

Inhibitory effect of plant extracts on the cytotoxicity of eurytele nematocysts from <em>Pelagia noctiluca</em>

“…Many popular treatments are reported in the traditional medicine to fight against animal venoms and toxins, including first aid care of jellyfish stings, but they are often anecdotal and inadequate to provide an effective relief and care. 22 In fact, in most of cases this empirical knowledge is scarcely transferable to pharmacological studies and industrial processes, due to the scarce clarity of the mechanisms of action, to the difficulty of using these remedies as pharmaceutical ingredients, to the occurrence of undesired by-products, as well as for their scarce effectiveness in several cases. For all these reasons, investigating new products and active principles on a strict scientific basis is mandatory to have a good knowledge about the mechanisms of toxicity and to provide for counteracting measures.…”

The Unequal Efficacy of Vinegar in First Aid Protocols for Pelagia noctiluca (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) and Carybdea marsupialis (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) Stings

“…The first aid protocols against jellyfish stings define a set of actions that allow immediate assistance to persons stung by jellyfish. Current protocols include the removal of jellyfish fragments attached to the skin after the sting followed by, washing the affected area with a rinse solution [10,17,21,25,26]. The chemical or mechanical stimulation of remaining undischarged cnidocysts in the skin can lead to a new venom load inoculation.…”

“…In the sting management scenario, avoiding the second envenomation episode by any means is essential. For this reason, most first aid protocols against jellyfish stings are focused mainly on rinsing of the affected area with a solution, which helps remove the residual cnidocysts without their activation [10,17,21,25,26].…”

Jellyfish Swarms and Degree of Exposure and Vulnerability of Recreational and Tourist Activities on Beaches. Methodological Approach to Their Assessment in the Lagos-Ferrara Sector (Málaga, Spain)

“…If jellyfish can be considered a threat, the risk to humans is given by the probability of damage (physical, such as stings, and in the form of a drop in economic activity, in case of a decrease in economic activity) or loss (mainly due to the consequences of a hypothetical drop in visits to beaches that are affected by jellyfish). Progress has already been made with regard to the impact of jellyfish stings on human health [6,12,14], also at the socio-economic level in certain sectors such as fishing [17,23] and in tourism [11,13,21]. The interest of this study is to consider all the possible aspects in which their appearance on the coasts can imply an effect on the human activity on the beaches, both recreational and tourist.…”