Injuries from sea urchins are induced by from penetration of the calcareous spines into the skin. Apart from the transient episode of excruciating pain, there is usually no residual disability. Complications arise, however, when spines are embedded over bony prominences, or within joints. Two cases are reported with injury and protracted disability of fingers resulting from contact with the purple sea urchin, Anthocidaris crassispina, a common echinoderm inhabitant of the Korean east coast. After a latent period of several months in both cases, Case 1 presented as caseating granulomas in the synovium and case 2 exhibited as the usual soft tissue nonsynovial foreign body and noncaseating granulomas. There appears to be a paucity of published data regarding the effects of puncture wounds caused by the spines of this animal. The granulomas have appeared after a latent interval of several months in a proportion of the sufferers, suggests a delayed hyperserisitivity reaction similar to that produced by Mycobacterium species.
Animals ; Anthocidaris ; Bites and Stings* ; Fingers ; Foreign Bodies ; Granuloma ; Hand* ; Hypersensitivity, Delayed ; Inflammation* ; Joints ; Mycobacterium ; Punctures ; Sea Urchins* ; Skin ; Spine ; Strongylocentrotus purpuratus ; Synovial Membrane ; Wounds and Injuries

No abstract available.
Granuloma* ; Sea Urchins* ; Sports*

Sea urchin granuloma is a chronic granulomatous skin lesion caused by injury with sea urchin. Two types of sea urchin reaction have been noted: immediated and delayed. It has been known to form granuloma in most cases of delayed reaction histopathologically. However, 30% of cases are non-granulomatous inflammation. We describe two cases of delayed skin reaction by sea urchin. One showed a predominant inflammatory reaction with features of non-specific chronic inflammation. We recommend to use other name for delayed reaction of sea urchin rather than 'sea urchin granuloma'.
Granuloma ; Inflammation ; Sea Urchins* ; Skin*

Sea urchin granuloma is a rare skin disorder, considered to be allergic or foreign body reaction caused by stick of spines of sea urchin. However, detection of the spine in the granuloma is quite difficult. A 27 year-old marine was seen with several asymptomatic hard nodules on the dorsum of hands, fingers, forearrns and knees at the injured site of the spines after a latent period of 6 rnonths. Histolagical examination revealed dermal granulomatous inflamation with hyperkeratotic and acanthotic epidermis. On examination with polarized microscopy, sea urchin spines in the granuloma were seen as bright white fragments in the dark field. Those nodules were regressed with intralesional injection of triamcinoIone.
Adult ; Epidermis ; Fingers ; Foreign-Body Reaction ; Granuloma* ; Hand ; Humans ; Injections, Intralesional ; Knee ; Microscopy ; Sea Urchins* ; Skin ; Spine

Sea urchins are marine invertebrates commonly found in coastal areas around the world. The potential mechanisms of injury are primary puncture wounds, envenomation, and the foreign body reaction. A 20-year-old woman presented with multiple, 0.2 to 0.3 cm-sized, erythematous papules with central blackish particles accompanied by numbness and pain on the dorsum of the right foot and ankle for 7 days. She had been injured by a sea urchin 7 days prior at the seaside in Guam. A skin biopsy of the lesion showed inflammation with foreign body reaction. The attending physician removed all the blackish particles and applied mupirocin ointment. Although skin lesions improved over time, numbness and pain still remained. There have been only six reported cases of sea urchin granuloma in Korea, but no reports of sea urchin injury with neurologic symptoms. Herein, we report a rare case of sea urchin injury accompanied by paresthesia.
Ankle ; Biopsy ; Female ; Foot ; Foreign-Body Reaction ; Granuloma ; Guam ; Humans ; Hypesthesia ; Inflammation ; Invertebrates ; Korea ; Mupirocin ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Paresthesia* ; Punctures ; Sea Urchins* ; Skin ; Wounds and Injuries ; Young Adult

Ca2+ is an important positive ion in the living body. Recently, there have been quite a few reports about the function of Ca2+ in sperm. Calcium is considered as a regulator of sperm motility, a participant in sperm capacitation, and an essential second messenger for acrosome reaction. This paper reviews the relationship of Ca2+ with sperm function.
Acrosome Reaction ; physiology ; Animals ; Calcium ; physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Sea Urchins ; Second Messenger Systems ; physiology ; Sperm Capacitation ; physiology ; Sperm Motility ; physiology ; Spermatozoa ; physiology

OBJECTIVE: Besides the functions of histones in the nucleus of the cells, there is growing evidence that histones have many other extra-cellular or extra-nuclear functions, such as stabilizing axonemal microtubule of sea urchin sperm flagella. This microtule assembly function of the histone is similar to that of taxol, which has an effect of controlling joint inflammation. In this study, a possible suppressive effect of histones on a mouse collagen-induced arthritis(CIA) model was investigated. METHODS: A DBA/1 mouse were injected intradermally with emulsified chicken type II collagen. Three weeks after immunization, histone H1 was injected intraperitoneally twice a week. Clinical incidences of arthritis and arthritis index were measured. Anti-collagen antibodies and stimulation index of the splenocytes of mice were measured. IL-10 and TNF-alpha in the supernatants of the cultured splenocytes were measured by ELISA. IL-10 and TNF-alpha in the supernatants of the cultured U937 cells stimulated with histone H1 were measured by ELISA. mRNA expression of IL-10 and TNF-alpha in the U937 cells stimulated with histone H1 were observed. RESULTS: Histone H1 appears to be an effective suppressor of CIA in mice. When delivered intravenously, this suppressive effect of histone H1 was most effective compared to intraperitoneal or intradermal injections. The anti-collagen antibody level of the histone H1 treated group was significantly lower than that of the control group. A remarkable increase in the level of IL-10 was observed from the cultured supernatant of the splenocytes treated with histone H1. Also, an increase of IL-10 level was observed from the cultured supernatant of the U937 cells treated with histone H1. CONCLUSION: According to these results, histone H1 appears to have a suppressive effect on CIA. The mechanism of the suppressive effect of histone may be a stimulation of IL-10 production.
Animals ; Antibodies ; Arthritis* ; Chickens ; Collagen Type II ; Collagen* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Flagella ; Histones* ; Immunization ; Incidence ; Inflammation ; Injections, Intradermal ; Interleukin-10 ; Joints ; Mice* ; Microtubules ; Paclitaxel ; RNA, Messenger ; Sea Urchins ; Spermatozoa ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; U937 Cells