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Soares MO, Kitahara MV, Santos MEA, Bejarano S, Rabelo EF, Cruz ICS. The flourishing and vulnerabilities of zoantharians on Southwestern Atlantic reefs. Mar Environ Res 2022; 173:105535. [PMID: 34879290 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Revised: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 11/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
In the Southwestern Atlantic reefs (SWA), some species of massive scleractinians and zoantharians are adapted to turbid waters, periodic desiccation, and sediment resuspension events. Moreover, phase shifts in this region have mostly been characterized by the emergence of algae and, less typically, zoantharians. However, nutrient excess and organic pollution are key drivers of the hard coral habitat degradation and may, thus, favor the emergence of novel zoantharian-dominated habitats. Many zoantharian species, particularly those from the genera Palythoa and Zoanthus, have traits that could help them thrive under conditions detrimental to reef-building corals, including rapid growth, several asexual reproduction strategies, high morphological plasticity, and generalist nutrient acquisition strategies. Thus, in a near future, stress-tolerant zoantharians may thrive in nutrient-enriched subtidal SWA locations under low heat stress, such as, upwelling. Overall, coral-zoantharian phase shifts in the SWA may decrease the species richness of reef communities, ultimately influencing ecosystem functioning and services, such as the provision of nursery habitats, fish biomass production, and coastline protection. However, zoantharians will also be threatened at intertidal zones, which are expected to experience higher heat stress, solar radiation, and sea-level rise. Although zoantharians appear to cope well with some local stressors (e.g., decreasing water quality), they are vulnerable to climate change (e.g., heatwaves), invasive species (Tubastraea spp.), microplastics, diseases, and mostly restricted to a narrow depth range (0-15 m depth) in SWA reefs. This shallow zone is particularly affected by climate change, compressing the three-dimensional habitat and limiting depth refugia in deeper SWA reefs. As mesophotic ecosystems have been hypothesized as short-term refuges to disturbances for some species, the narrow depth limit of zoantharians seems to be a potential factor that might increase their vulnerability to growing climate change pressures in SWA shallow-water reefs. Together, these could lead to both range expansions in some locations and loss of suitable reef habitats in other sites. Additional research is needed to better understand the systemic responses of these novel SWA reefs to the concert of increasing and interactive local and global stressors, and their implications for ecosystem functioning and service provisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcelo Oliveira Soares
- Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil.
| | | | | | - Sonia Bejarano
- Reef Systems Research Group, Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany
| | | | - Igor Cristino Silva Cruz
- Departamento de Oceanografia, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil
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Bethencourt-Estrella CJ, Nocchi N, López-Arencibia A, San Nicolás-Hernández D, Souto ML, Suárez-Gómez B, Díaz-Marrero AR, Fernández JJ, Lorenzo-Morales J, Piñero JE. Antikinetoplastid Activity of Sesquiterpenes Isolated from the Zoanthid Palythoa aff. clavata. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2021; 14:ph14111095. [PMID: 34832876 PMCID: PMC8625207 DOI: 10.3390/ph14111095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Revised: 10/23/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease are neglected tropical diseases that cause problems in developing countries. The causative agents, Leishmania spp. and Trypanosoma cruzi, produce a clinical picture that can be fatal for the patient, such as Chagas heart disease, visceral leishmaniasis and megacolon, among others. Current treatments for these diseases are not very effective and highly toxic, since they require very prolonged treatments. The development of innovative, effective and safe drugs to fight infections caused by these parasites remains a challenge. For this reason, in recent years, there has been an increase in the search for new therapies. In this study, the antikinetoplastid activity of 13 sesquiterpene lactones obtained from Palythoa aff. clavata was screened against L. amazonensis, L. donovani and T. cruzi. The results revealed that the sesquiterpene lactones anhydroartemorin (2), cis,trans-costunolide-14-acetate (3) and 4-hydroxyarbusculin A (11) were the most selective against the kinetoplastid species studied. These molecules seem to induce the mechanisms involved in an apoptotic-like death or programmed cell death (PCD) in the kinetoplastids, and since they do not cause necrosis, the inflammatory events associated with this type of cell death will not be triggered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos J. Bethencourt-Estrella
- Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias (IUETSPC), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38203 La Laguna, Spain; (C.J.B.-E.); (A.L.-A.); (D.S.N.-H.)
- Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Pediatría, Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Toxicología, Medicina Legal y Forense y Parasitología, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38203 La Laguna, Spain
- Red de Investigación Cooperativa en Enfermedades Tropicales (RICET), 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Nathalia Nocchi
- Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González (IUBO AG), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez 2, 38206 La Laguna, Spain; (N.N.); (M.L.S.); (B.S.-G.)
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38203 La Laguna, Spain
| | - Atteneri López-Arencibia
- Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias (IUETSPC), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38203 La Laguna, Spain; (C.J.B.-E.); (A.L.-A.); (D.S.N.-H.)
- Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Pediatría, Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Toxicología, Medicina Legal y Forense y Parasitología, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38203 La Laguna, Spain
- Red de Investigación Cooperativa en Enfermedades Tropicales (RICET), 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Desirée San Nicolás-Hernández
- Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias (IUETSPC), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38203 La Laguna, Spain; (C.J.B.-E.); (A.L.-A.); (D.S.N.-H.)
- Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Pediatría, Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Toxicología, Medicina Legal y Forense y Parasitología, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38203 La Laguna, Spain
- Red de Investigación Cooperativa en Enfermedades Tropicales (RICET), 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - María L. Souto
- Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González (IUBO AG), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez 2, 38206 La Laguna, Spain; (N.N.); (M.L.S.); (B.S.-G.)
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38203 La Laguna, Spain
| | - Blanca Suárez-Gómez
- Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González (IUBO AG), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez 2, 38206 La Laguna, Spain; (N.N.); (M.L.S.); (B.S.-G.)
| | - Ana R. Díaz-Marrero
- Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González (IUBO AG), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez 2, 38206 La Laguna, Spain; (N.N.); (M.L.S.); (B.S.-G.)
- Correspondence: (A.R.D.-M.); (J.J.F.); (J.L.-M.); (J.E.P.)
| | - José J. Fernández
- Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González (IUBO AG), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez 2, 38206 La Laguna, Spain; (N.N.); (M.L.S.); (B.S.-G.)
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38203 La Laguna, Spain
- Correspondence: (A.R.D.-M.); (J.J.F.); (J.L.-M.); (J.E.P.)
| | - Jacob Lorenzo-Morales
- Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias (IUETSPC), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38203 La Laguna, Spain; (C.J.B.-E.); (A.L.-A.); (D.S.N.-H.)
- Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Pediatría, Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Toxicología, Medicina Legal y Forense y Parasitología, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38203 La Laguna, Spain
- Red de Investigación Cooperativa en Enfermedades Tropicales (RICET), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Consorcio Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red M.P. (CIBER) de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Correspondence: (A.R.D.-M.); (J.J.F.); (J.L.-M.); (J.E.P.)
| | - José E. Piñero
- Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias (IUETSPC), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38203 La Laguna, Spain; (C.J.B.-E.); (A.L.-A.); (D.S.N.-H.)
- Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Pediatría, Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Toxicología, Medicina Legal y Forense y Parasitología, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38203 La Laguna, Spain
- Red de Investigación Cooperativa en Enfermedades Tropicales (RICET), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Consorcio Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red M.P. (CIBER) de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Correspondence: (A.R.D.-M.); (J.J.F.); (J.L.-M.); (J.E.P.)
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Rodríguez-Expósito RL, Nocchi N, Reyes-Batlle M, Sifaoui I, Suárez-Gómez B, Díaz-Marrero AR, Souto ML, Piñero JE, Fernández JJ, Lorenzo-Morales J. Antiamoebic effects of sesquiterpene lactones isolated from the zoanthid Palythoa aff. clavata. Bioorg Chem 2021; 108:104682. [PMID: 33556696 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2021.104682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2020] [Revised: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Opportunistic parasitic protozoa of genus Acanthamoeba are responsible to cause severe infections in humans such as Acanthamoeba Keratitis or Amoebic Granulomatous Encephalitis. Current treatments are usually toxic and inefficient and there is a need to access new therapeutic agents. The antiamoebic effects of nephthediol (1) and fourteen germacranolide and eudesmanolide sesquiterpene lactones (2-5, 7-12) isolated from the indigenous zoanthid Palythoa aff. clavata collected at the coast of Lanzarote, Canary Islands were studied against Acanthamoeba castellanii Neff, and the clinical strains A. polyphaga and A. griffini. 4-epi-arbusculin A (11) presented the lowest IC50 value (26,47 ± 1,69 µM) against A. castellanii Neff and low cytotoxicity against murine macrophages, followed by isobadgerin (2), which also showed to be active against A. castellanii Neff cysts. The studies on the mode of action of compounds 2 and 11 revealed these sesquiterpene lactones induce mechanisms of PDC on A. castellanii Neff.
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Guarnieri MC, de Albuquerque Modesto JC, Pérez CD, Ottaiano TF, Ferreira RDS, Batista FP, de Brito MV, Campos IHMP, Oliva MLV. Zoanthid mucus as new source of useful biologically active proteins. Toxicon 2018; 143:96-107. [PMID: 29360533 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2018.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2017] [Revised: 01/02/2018] [Accepted: 01/18/2018] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Palythoa caribaeorum is a very common colonial zoanthid in the coastal reefs of Brazil. It is known for its massive production of mucus, which is traditionally used in folk medicine by fishermen in northeastern Brazil. This study identified biologically active compounds in P. caribaerum mucus. Crude mucus was collected during low tides by the manual scraping of colonies; samples were maintained in an ice bath, homogenized, and centrifuged at 16,000 g for 1 h at 4 °C; the supernatant (mucus) was kept at -80 °C until use. The enzymatic (proteolytic and phospholipase A2), inhibitory (metallo, cysteine and serine proteases), and hemagglutinating (human erythrocyte) activities were determined. The results showed high levels of cysteine and metallo proteases, intermediate levels of phosholipase A2, low levels of trypsin, and no elastase and chymotrypsin like activities. The mucus showed potent inhibitory activity on snake venom metalloproteases and cysteine proteinase papain. In addition, it showed agglutinating activity towards O+, B+, and A+ erythrocyte types. The hemostatic results showed that the mucus prolongs the aPTT and PT, and strongly inhibited platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid, collagen, epinephrine, ADP, and thrombin. The antimicrobial activity was tested on 15 strains of bacteria and fungi through the radial diffusion assay in agar, and no activity was observed. Compounds in P. caribaeorum mucus were analyzed for the first time in this study, and our results show potential pharmacological activities in these compounds, which are relevant for use in physiopathological investigations. However, the demonstration of these activities indicates caution in the use of crude mucus in folk medicine. Furthermore, the present or absent activities identified in this mucus suggest that the studied P. caribaeorum colonies were in thermal stress conditions at the time of sample collection; these conditions may precede the bleaching process in zoanthids. Hence, the use of mucus as an indicator of this process should be evaluated in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Míriam Camargo Guarnieri
- Department of Zoology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Av. Prof Moraes Rego 1235, CEP 50670-901, Cidade Universitária, Recife, PE, Brazil; Biochemistry Department, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Três de maio 100, CEP 04044-020, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
| | - Jeanne Claíne de Albuquerque Modesto
- Vitória Academic Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Rua Alto do Reservatório, s/n, CEP 55608-680, Bela Vista, Vitória de Santo Antão, PE, Brazil.
| | - Carlos Daniel Pérez
- Vitória Academic Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Rua Alto do Reservatório, s/n, CEP 55608-680, Bela Vista, Vitória de Santo Antão, PE, Brazil.
| | - Tatiana Fontes Ottaiano
- Biochemistry Department, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Três de maio 100, CEP 04044-020, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
| | - Rodrigo da Silva Ferreira
- Biochemistry Department, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Três de maio 100, CEP 04044-020, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
| | - Fabrício Pereira Batista
- Biochemistry Department, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Três de maio 100, CEP 04044-020, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
| | - Marlon Vilela de Brito
- Biochemistry Department, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Três de maio 100, CEP 04044-020, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
| | - Ikaro Henrique Mendes Pinto Campos
- Department of Zoology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Av. Prof Moraes Rego 1235, CEP 50670-901, Cidade Universitária, Recife, PE, Brazil.
| | - Maria Luiza Vilela Oliva
- Biochemistry Department, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Três de maio 100, CEP 04044-020, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
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Pelin M, Brovedani V, Sosa S, Tubaro A. Palytoxin-Containing Aquarium Soft Corals as an Emerging Sanitary Problem. Mar Drugs 2016; 14:E33. [PMID: 26861356 PMCID: PMC4771986 DOI: 10.3390/md14020033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2015] [Revised: 01/26/2016] [Accepted: 01/27/2016] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Palytoxin (PLTX), one the most potent marine toxins, and/or its analogs, have been identified in different marine organisms, such as Palythoa soft corals, Ostreopsis dinoflagellates, and Trichodesmium cyanobacteria. Although the main concern for human health is PLTXs entrance in the human food chain, there is growing evidence of adverse effects associated with inhalational, cutaneous, and/or ocular exposure to aquarium soft corals contaminated by PLTXs or aquaria waters. Indeed, the number of case reports describing human poisonings after handling these cnidarians is continuously increasing. In general, the signs and symptoms involve mainly the respiratory (rhinorrhea and coughing), skeletomuscular (myalgia, weakness, spasms), cardiovascular (electrocardiogram alterations), gastrointestinal (nausea), and nervous (paresthesia, ataxia, tremors) systems or apparates. The widespread phenomenon, the entity of the signs and symptoms of poisoning and the lack of control in the trade of corals as aquaria decorative elements led to consider these poisonings an emerging sanitary problem. This review summarizes literature data on human poisonings due to, or ascribed to, PLTX-containing soft corals, focusing on the different PLTX congeners identified in these organisms and their toxic potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Pelin
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Valerio 6, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
| | - Valentina Brovedani
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Valerio 6, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
| | - Silvio Sosa
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Valerio 6, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
| | - Aurelia Tubaro
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Valerio 6, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
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Abstract
Palytoxin (PTX) is a potent marine toxin that was originally found in soft corals from tropical areas of the Pacific Ocean. Soon after, its occurrence was observed in numerous other marine organisms from the same ecological region. More recently, several analogs of PTX were discovered, remarkably all from species of the dinoflagellate genus Ostreopsis. Since these dinoflagellates are also found in other tropical and even in temperate regions, the formerly unsuspected broad distribution of these toxins was revealed. Toxicological studies with these compounds shows repeatedly low LD50 values in different mammals, revealing an acute toxic effect on several organs, as demonstrated by different routes of exposure. Bioassays tested for some marine invertebrates and evidences from environmental populations exposed to the toxins also give indications of the high impact that these compounds may have on natural food webs. The recognition of its wide distribution coupled with the poisoning effects that these toxins can have on animals and especially on humans have concerned the scientific community. In this paper, we review the current knowledge on the effects of PTX and its analogs on different organisms, exposing the impact that these toxins may have in coastal ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vítor Ramos
- Marine and Environmental Research Center–CIIMAR/CIMAR, Porto University, Rua dos Bragas, 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal; E-Mail:
| | - Vítor Vasconcelos
- Marine and Environmental Research Center–CIIMAR/CIMAR, Porto University, Rua dos Bragas, 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal; E-Mail:
- Faculty of Sciences, Porto University, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
- * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: ; Tel.: +351 223401814; Fax: +351 223390608
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