Journal of Coastal Life Medicine

421-428

Authors: Marisa Rangel, Miriam Falkenberg

The first marine natural products that served as leads or scaffolds for medicines were discovered in the middle of last century: the arabinosyl glycosides from the marine sponge Tectitethya crypta. Synthesis and modifications of the natural molecules generated antiviral and antileukemic drugs developed in the 1970’s and in the following decades, including the first effective treatment against HIV infection. With the improvement of techniques for the elucidation of chemical structure of the molecules, as well as chemical synthesis, especially from the 1990’s, there was an increase in the number of bioactive natural products characterized from marine organisms. New chemical structures with high specificity towards molecular targets in cells allowed the development of new drugs with indication for the treatment of several illnesses, from cancer to new antibiotics, and even neurological disorders. Currently there are at least 13 molecules derived from marine natural products on advanced clinical trials, and nine were approved to be used as medicines. Considering that in the past eight years, more than 1 000 new compounds from marine organisms were described, per year, the expectation is that many more drugs will be derived from marine natural products in a near future.

433-437

Authors: Eyo Victor Oscar, Edet Theresa Arit, Ekanem Albert Philip

Objective: To determine the prevalence, mean intensity, and abundance of monogenean parasites in Clarias gariepinus (C. gariepinus) from two selected fish farms in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. Methods: Eighty specimens of C. gariepinus from the two farms (40 each) were necropsied for parasitological analysis. Skin, gill and fin biopsies were prepared from each specimen following standard methods for microscopic analysis. Parasitological indices including dominance (D), prevalence, mean intensity and abundance were calculated according to standard formulae. Data were analyzed using the Fisher's exact test. Results: C. gariepinus from the two farms were infested with a total of ninety individuals of monogenean parasites belonging to three species including Macrogyrodactylus clarii (M. clarii), Gyrodactylus sp. and Dactylogyrus sp. D index showed that the three monogenean species were eudominant (D-value > 10%). Gyrodactylus sp. was more abundant (46) followed by Dactylogyrus sp. (23) while M. clarii was the lowest (21). Prevalence, meaning intensity and abundance of monogenean parasites in the two farms, varied insignificantly higher (P > 0.05). Prevalence in both farms were higher in female C. gariepinus than that in male. Monogenean parasites exhibited organ specificity as M. clarii and Dactylogyrus sp. were recovered from the gills while Gyrodactylus sp. colonized the skin and fin. Conclusions: High abundance of these parasites may lead to poor growth performance and high mortality in C. gariepinus, leading to huge monetary loss and low profit margin by increasing production cost due to the cost of treatments.

441-445

Authors: İsmet Berber, Cumhur Avşar, Hilal Koyuncu

Objective: To evaluate in vitro antimicrobial, antioxidant activities and total phenol contents of Cystoseira crinita and Ulva intestinalis species collected from the coastal region of Sinop. Methods: The antimicrobial activity of each methanolic algae sample was screened by using disc diffusion method against to 15 bacteria and 3 yeasts. The antioxidant potential of the extracts on the stable radical 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl was determined. The total phenolic content of the 3 methanolic extracts of the seaweed samples were determined by the Folin- Ciocalteu method. Results: The results of antimicrobial assay showed that extracts were more effective against Gram-positive bacteria rather than Gram-negative. In addition, while the algal extracts had antifungal efficacy against Candida krusei, the other yeast strains were not affected at all. According to the findings of antioxidant activity, all methanolic extracts displayed good free radical scavenging activity ranging from IC50 = (32.19 ± 0.08) mg/mL to the IC50 = (37.57 ± 0.11) mg/mL. The total phenols content of the macroalgal extracts were found as between (5.10 ± 0.16) mg gallic acid equivalent/g and (87.70 ± 1.03) mg gallic acid equivalent/g. In this sense, our findings confirmed that there was a positive linear correlations (r = 0.86) between total phenol contents and the IC50 values. Conclusions: The data gathered from this study suggested that the seaweeds can be used as a potential natural seafood sources owing to the antimicrobial efficiency and good antioxidant activity.

453-458

Authors: Palani Damotharan, Anguchamy Veeruraj, Muthuvel Arumugam, Thangavel Balasubramanian

Objective: To evaluate the antibacterial activity of sea snake (Enhydrina schistosa) venom protein against drug-resistant human pathogenic bacterial strains. Methods: The venom was collected by milking process from the live specimens of sea snake are using capillary tubes or glass plates. Venom was purified by ion exchange chromatography and it was tested for in-vitro antibacterial activity against 10 drug-resistant human pathogenic bacterial strains using the standard disc diffusion method. Results: The notable antibacterial activity was observed at 150 μg/mL concentration of purified venom and gave its minimum inhibitory concentrations values exhibited between 200-100 μg/mL against all the tested bacterial strains. The maximum zone of inhibition was observed at 16.4 mm against Salmonella boydii and the minimum activity was observed at 7.5 mm against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. After the sodium-dodecyl-sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis there were a clear single band was detected in the gel that corresponding to purified venom protein molecular weight of 44 kDa. Conclusions: These results suggested that the sea snake venom might be a feasible source for searching potential antibiotics agents against human pathogenic diseases.

466-470

Authors: Thangapalam Jawahar Abraham, Shubhadeep Ghosh, Debasis Sasmal

Objective: To study the influence of biological products on the levels of nitrogen and sulphur cycle bacteria in shrimp culture systems of West Bengal, India. Methods: The pond water and sediment samples were analyzed for physico-chemical parameters as per standard methods. The bacteria involved in ammonification, nitrification, denitrification, sulphate reduction and sulphur oxidation were enumerated by most probable number technique. Results: The semi-intensive and modified extensive shrimp farms used a variety of biological products during various stages of production. No biological products were used in traditional farms. The water and sediment samples of modified extensive system recorded significantly higher mean heterotrophic bacterial counts. The counts of ammonia, nitrite and sulphur oxidizers, and nitrate and sulphate reducers varied among the systems. The cycling of nitrogen and sulphur appeared to be affected with the intensification of culture practices. Conclusions: The application of biological products in certain systems helped to maintain the bacteria involved in nitrogen and sulphur cycles and safe levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. An assessment of these metabolically active bacteria in shrimp culture ponds and the application of right kind microbial products would help ameliorate the organic pollution in shrimp aquaculture.

476-485

Authors: Janarthanan Gopalakrishnan

Objective: To determine the chemical constituents of the traditional vegetal salts and find out if they are safe to consume. Methods: Seven different salts have been obtained from three provinces, of which five belong to Morobe Province. The cations were determined using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and anions using titrimetry, gravimetry and spectrophotometry. Others like solubility, electrical conductivity, pH, antimicrobial, Fourier transform infrared spectral and volatility studies have been carried out for these salts. Results: While few salts were found to be stable, others were deliquescent; and the colour varies from white to black through yellow and brown. It was found that the potassium ion was dominant while others including sodium and calcium were found in lower concentrations. For the first time, certain d-block metal concentrations were measured though most of them were found to be present at very low levels. Other parameters like volatility, solubility, electrical conductivity, antimicrobial and Fourier transform infrared spectral studies were carried out for the first time for these vegetal salts in Papua New Guinea. Conclusions: The salt’s deliquescence could be correlated to the presence of anions like carbonate, bicarbonate and hydroxide which strongly contribute towards it. Similarly, solubility and conductivity of the salts could be correlated well. The salts were found to be harmless for consumption, but for the high potassium content.

491-494

Authors: Nwoha Rosemary Ijeoma Ogechi, Anene Boniface Maduka

Objective: To determine the effect of Ancylostoma caninum (A. caninum) and trypanosome parasites on the immune response to vaccination in dogs in endemic environments. Methods: Sixteen dogs for the experiment were grouped into 4 of 4 members each. Group I was the uninfected control one, and GPII was infected with A. caninum; GPIII was infected with A. caninum/Trypanosoma congolense (T. congolense), and GPIV was infected with Trypanosoma brucei (T. brucei)/A. caninum. The dogs were first vaccinated with antirabies vaccine before infecting GPII, GPIII and GPIV with A. caninum which were done 4 weeks after vaccination. By 2-week post-vaccination, trypanosome parasites were superimposed on both GPIII and GPIV. A secondary vaccination was given to GPI, GPII, GPIII, and GPIV by Week 12 of the experiment (4 weeks post treatment). Results: The prepatent period was (3.00 ± 1.40) days, in the conjunct infection of T. brucei/ A. caninum. It was (9.00 ± 1.10) days, in conjunct T. congolense/A. caninum. The prepatent period of A. caninum was (14.0 ± 2.0) days in the single A. caninum group and (13.0 ± 1.0) days in the conjunct trypanosome/A. caninum. At the 1st week after vaccination, the antibody titer in all the vaccinated groups (GPI, GPII, GPIII, and GPIV) significantly increased (P < 0.05) and peaked at the 3rd week after vaccination. Following infections, there were marked significant decreases (P < 0.05) in the antibody production against rabies in GPII, GPIII and GPIV. The significant decrease (P < 0.05) in antibody titer was highest in the conjunct groups (GPIII and GPIV) compared to the single infection (GPII). Treatment with diminazene aceturate and mebendazole did not significantly improve antibody response in the dogs. A secondary vaccination administered at the 12th week after the primary vaccination significantly increased (P < 0.05) the antibody titer with a peak at the 3rd week after the secondary vaccination. Conclusions: It was therefore concluded that A. caninum, T. brucei and T. congolense induced immunosuppression in antirabies vaccination in dogs.

503-504

Authors: Beuy Joob, Viroj Wiwanitkit

Horseshoe crab can be poisonous and intoxication due to intake of horseshoe crab is possible. Horseshoe crab intoxication can be seen in many countries with seacoasts including Thailand. Here, the authors summarized the death rate due to horseshoe crab poisoning in Thailand.