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Envenomation by cnidarians and renal injuries Nephrotoxic Effects of Venoms from Sea Anemones from Japan

Clinical Toxinology

Part of the book series: Toxinology ((TOXI))

  • 63 Accesses

Abstract

Sea anemones are members of the phylum Cnidaria. Their venom is armed with nematocysts that both protect them from predators and aid in capturing food. Most sea anemones are harmless to humans or only cause slight injuries such as mild dermatitis. However, envenomation by a few species can be quite harmful to humans. One example is Phyllodiscus semoni, an extremely harmful sea anemone whose distribution extends from the Western Pacific Ocean to the South Indian Sea and includes the Okinawan Islands in Japan. It is known as the “night sea anemone” and also “unbachi-isogintyaku” in Okinawa, which means wasp sea anemone in Japanese. There have been several reports of severe dermatitis and rare reports of acute kidney disease caused by P. semoni stings in Okinawa. In addition, specific nephrotoxic effects of toxins derived from P. semoni have been shown in an animal model. In the present minireview, we summarize reports of envenomation by P. semoni and the resulting toxic effects, including nephrotoxic effects, and discuss opportunities to develop new therapeutic approaches in the future.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Renal Replacement Therapy, division of Nephrology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, 466-8550, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

    Masashi Mizuno

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  1. Masashi Mizuno
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Correspondence to Masashi Mizuno .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    P. Gopalakrishnakone

  2. Dept. of Soil, Water and Environment, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    S.M.A. Faiz

  3. Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Christeine Ariaranee Gnanathasan

  4. Department of Medicine, Bayero University Kano Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria

    Abdulrazaq Garba Habib

  5. Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxi, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Ravindra Fernando

  6. Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan

    Chen-Chang Yang

  7. University of Hawaii Cancer Center , Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

    Carl-Wilhelm Vogel

  8. Immunochemistry Laboratory, Research Div, Butantan Institute Immunochemistry Laboratory, Research Div, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Denise V. Tambourgi

  9. Department of Emergency Medicine, The University of New Mexico Department of Emergency Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

    Steven A. Seifert

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Mizuno, M. (2017). Envenomation by cnidarians and renal injuries Nephrotoxic Effects of Venoms from Sea Anemones from Japan. In: Gopalakrishnakone, P., et al. Clinical Toxinology. Toxinology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6288-6_64-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6288-6_64-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6288-6

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  1. Latest

    Nephrotoxic Effects of Venoms from Sea Anemones from Japan
    Published:
    23 January 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6288-6_64-2

  2. Original

    Envenomation by cnidarians and renal injuries Nephrotoxic Effects of Venoms from Sea Anemones from Japan
    Published:
    19 September 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6288-6_64-1

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