Investigation into the hemolytic activity of tentacle venom from jellyfish Cyanea nozakii Kishinouye

Cyanea nozakii Kishinouy e( C. nozakii), a giant cnidarian of the class Scyphomedusae, order Semaeostomeae and family Cyaneidae, is widely distributed in the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea, and is abundant from late summer to early autumn. Venom produced by C. nozakii during mass agglomerations can contaminate seawater resulting in death of the halobios and seriously damage commercial fisheries. Swimmers and fishermen commonly suff er painful stings from this jellyfish, resulting in local edema, tingling, breathing difficulties, depressed blood pressure and even death. Such eff ects arise from the complex mixture of biologically active molecules that make up jellyfish venom. In the present study, the hemolytic activity of venom from tentacles of C. nozakii and factors aff ecting its activity were assayed. The HU 50( defined as the amount of protein required to lyse 50 % of erythrocytes) of the venom against dove and chicken erythrocytes was 34 and 59 μg/m L, respectively. Carboxylmethyl chitosan and glycerol could increase hemolytic activity at concentrations greater than 0.06% and 0.2 mol/L, respectively.