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

Abstract

Some species of Cnidarians, well known venomous organisms, are able to induce serious health problems as well as economic and social trouble. A lot of data show that cnidarian venoms can be cytotoxic to cultured cells. Therefore, a priority of the research is to find tools which could counteract the damaging activity of venoms. In this connection, the modulatory effects exerted by extracts of plants Ananas comosus (L.) and Carica papaya (L.) on cytotoxicity of heterotrichous microbasic eurytele nematocysts isolated from the jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca was evaluated. The nematocyst extract induced strong cytotoxicity at highest tested doses with reduction of cell survival below 40% and IC50 value of 40×103 nematocysts/mL. Both plant extracts significantly improved the survival of cells, so that the IC50 resulted 74×103 and 100×103 nematocysts/mL in the presence of A. comosus and C. papaya extracts, respectively, both used at 10 and 100 μg/mL. Taking into account that heterotrichous microbasic eurytele nematocysts are present mainly in tentacles, which Pelagia noctiluca utilizes both for predation and defence, this result is particularly interesting from both ecological and sanitary point of view and demonstrates the potential of these plants extracts against cnidarian venoms.

Cnidome and Morphological Features of Pelagia noctiluca (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) Throughout the Different Life Cycle Stages

“…The contribution of the toxicological properties of each nematocyst in the sting is difficult to determine in jellyfish species (Doyle et al, 2017). However, the cytotoxic capacity from P. noctiluca isolated euryteles has been reported by Morabito et al (2020). Besides the toxic properties of the venom, the length of the nematocyst tubule leads to varying degrees of epithelial damage (Kitatani et al, 2015).…”

“…As systemic symptoms are uncommon, P. noctiluca is considered a non-life-threatening species (Cegolon et al, 2013). Owing to the high number of stings seen by lifeguard services (De Donno et al, 2014), the efforts of the scientific community are focused on sting prevention and management of the mauve stinger (Morabito et al, 2014(Morabito et al, , 2020Hall, 2018;Ballesteros et al, 2021).…”

Successful Culture of Pelagia noctiluca (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) Over Time: A Continuous Supply of the Holoplanktonic Jellyfish for Research and Industrial Applications

“…Jellyfish cultures allow availability of specimens when required and are a unique opportunity to study different areas of knowledge: from each stage of the life cycle and evolution of the cnidome (Holst, 2012;Heins et al, 2015;Ballesteros et al, 2021b) to the impact of climate change or ocean acidification on jellyfish populations (Olariaga et al, 2014). Without doubt, P. noctiluca stands out for its stinging capacity and the high number of incidents with beach-goers (Mariottini et al, 2008;De Donno et al, 2014), making it an ideal model for venom-toxicity experiments (Morabito et al, 2020;Ballesteros et al, 2021a). No significant differences were observed between the hemolytic areas caused by wild and captive specimens (p value 0.2) (Figure 7).…”

“…Although it is not considered a life-threatening species, its severe sting generates edema, burning sensation, vesicles and/or scabs immediately after inoculation of the venom (Montgomery et al, 2016;Hall et al, 2018). Hence, the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries research and sell products to prevent and ameliorate its sting (Hall et al, 2018;Morabito et al, 2020).…”

Inhibition of Nematocyst Discharge from Pelagia noctiluca (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa)—Prevention Measures against Jellyfish Stings

“…Although jellyfish stings are common, the scientific community remains in disagreement about the effectiveness of most substances and products [9,13,28,30,31]. The discrepancies and confusion are due to limited data for making evidence-based recommendations and the lack of a regulated and agreed framework among researchers [28,34,35]. Moreover, in most cases, evidence is based on empirical knowledge that is difficult to transfer to industrial processes due to a knowledge gap in the mechanisms of action, difficulty using these compounds in cosmetic products and the scarce effectiveness [34].…”