Citation

Carneiro RF, Nascimento NR, Costa PP, Gomes VM, Souza AJ, Oliveira SC, Santos Diz Filho EB, Zara FJ, Fonteles MC, Oliveira Toyama D, Toyama MH, Santos CF. J. Appl. Toxicol. 2011; 31(8): 720-729.

Affiliation

UECE, Superior Institute of Biomedicine, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jat.1620

PMID

21319174

Abstract

Phyllorhiza punctata (P. punctata) is a jellyfish native to the southwestern Pacific. Herewith we present the biochemical and pharmacological characterization of an extract of the tentacles of P. punctata. The tentacles were subjected to three freeze-thaw cycles, homogenized, ultrafiltered, precipitated, centrifuged and lyophilized to obtain a crude extract (PHY-N). Paralytic shellfish poisoning compounds such as saxitoxin, gonyautoxin-4, tetrodotoxin and brevetoxin-2, as well as several secretory phospholipase A(2) were identified. PHY-N was tested on autonomic and somatic neuromuscular preparations. In mouse vas deferens, PHY-N induced phasic contractions that reached a peak of 234 ± 34.7% of control twitch height, which were blocked with either 100 μm of phentolamine or 1 mm of lidocaine. In mouse corpora cavernosa, PHY-N evoked a relaxation response, which was blocked with either L-N(G) -Nitroarginine methyl ester (0.5 mm) or 1 mm of lidocaine. PHY-N (1, 3 and 10 μg ml(-1) ) induced an increase in tonus of the biventer-cervicis neuromuscular preparation that was blocked with pre-treatment of galamine (10 μm). Administration of 6 mg kg(-1) PHY-N intramuscularly produced death in broilers by spastic paralysis. In conclusion, PHY-N induces nerve depolarization and nonspecifically increases neurotransmitter release. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Language: en