1.Jellyfish stings on Langkawi Island, Malaysia
Mohd Azri Mohd Suan ; Wei Leong Tan ; Shahrul Aiman Soelar ; Hour Pin Cheng ; Munirah Osman
The Medical Journal of Malaysia 2016;71(4):161-165
Introduction: Jellyfish stings are the most frequently
reported marine animal envenomation worldwide. However,
data on jellyfish sting from Malaysia remains obscure due to
inadequate research.
Methods: We investigated the epidemiology, clinical features
and treatment of patients presenting at the emergency
department of Langkawi Hospital between January 2012 and
December 2014. Secondary data on the nature of the
incident, patient demographics, clinical presentation, and
treatment were retrieved from the patients’ medical records.
Descriptive statistics were presented for all patient
variables.
Results: A total of 759 patients presented with jellyfish
stings during the 3-year study period, with highest number
of visits in July, October, November, and December. The
mean patient age was 26.7 years (SD: 12.14), 59.4% were
men, 68.1% were foreigners or international tourists, and
40.4% were stung between 12.00 p.m. and 6:59 p.m. At least
90 patients presented with mild Irukandji or Irukandji-like
syndromes. Most of the jellyfish stings occurred at Chenang
Beach (590 reported cases), followed by Tengah Beach and
Kok Beach. Most patients were treated symptomatically, and
no deaths following a jellyfish sting was reported during the
study period.
Conclusion: There is a need for public health interventions
for both local and international tourists who visit Langkawi
Island. Preventive steps and education on initial treatment at
the incident site could elevate public awareness and
decrease the adverse effects of jellyfish stings.
Cnidaria
;
Cnidarian Venoms
2.Identification of four new ceramides from Anthopleura pacifica.
Shu-yu ZHANG ; Hai-feng TANG ; Yang-hua YI ; Ling LI ; Da-zheng ZHOU ; Zheng-rong ZOU
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica 2003;38(5):350-353
AIMTo study the bioactive constituents from Anthopleura pacifica.
METHODSCompounds were separated by Pyricularia oryzae bioassay-guided fractionation method with a combination of multi-chromatography. Their chemical structures were determined on the basis of spectral analysis and chemical evidence.
RESULTSA portion showing activity against P. oryzae was obtained and from the portion four compounds were identified as N-hydroxyethyl-N-tetradecanoyl-(2S,3R)-octadecasphinga-4(E), 8(E)-dienine (a), N-hydroxyethyl-N-(9Z-hexadecenoyl)-(2S,3R)-octadecasphinga-4 (E), 8 (E)-dienine (b), N-hydroxyethyl-N-hexadecanoyl-(2S,3R)-octadecasphinga-4(E), 8 (E)-dienine (c) and N-hydroxyethyl-N-(13Z-docosenoyl-(2S,3R)-octadecasphinga-4(E), 8(E)-dienine(d).
CONCLUSIONAll the four compounds are new ceramides.
Animals ; Biological Assay ; Ceramides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Cnidarian Venoms ; chemistry ; Mitosporic Fungi ; drug effects ; Molecular Conformation ; Molecular Structure ; Sea Anemones ; chemistry
3.Effect of Kv1.3 and KCa3.1 potassium ion channels on the proliferation and migration of monocytes/macrophages.
Shuang-Xia ZHANG ; Xian-Pei WANG ; Chuan-Yu GAO ; Chen-Hui JU ; Li-Jie ZHU ; Yi-Mei DU
Acta Physiologica Sinica 2015;67(5):505-512
This study was aimed to investigate the effects of blockade of Ca(2+) activated channel KCa3.1 and voltage-gated potassium channel Kv1.3 of the monocytes/macrophages on inflammatory monocyte chemotaxis. Chemotaxis assay was used to test the inflammatory Ly-6C(hi) monocyte chemotaxis caused by the monocytes/macrophages. The proliferation of monocytes/macrophages was detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK8). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to detect the C-C motif ligand 7 (CCL7) in cultured media. The results showed that the recruitment of Ly-6C(hi) monocyte induced by monocytes/macrophages was suppressed by the potent Kv1.3 blocker Stichodactyla helianthus neurotoxin (ShK) or the specific KCa3.1 inhibitor TRAM-34. Meanwhile, the proliferation of monocytes/macrophages was significantly inhibited by ShK. The response of Ly-6C(hi) monocyte pretreated with ShK or TRAM-34 to CCL2 was declined. These results suggest that KCa3.1 and Kv1.3 may play an important role in monocytes/macrophages' proliferation and migration.
Cell Movement
;
Cell Proliferation
;
Cnidarian Venoms
;
pharmacology
;
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
;
Humans
;
Kv1.3 Potassium Channel
;
antagonists & inhibitors
;
physiology
;
Macrophages
;
cytology
;
Monocytes
;
cytology
;
Protein Structure, Tertiary
;
Pyrazoles
;
pharmacology
;
Small-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels
;
antagonists & inhibitors
;
physiology