Molluscs and Medicine


 

Medical Dictionary OnLine:  This might be a very useful site if you delve into some of these articles

Medical Conditions brought on by molluscs can be roughly divided into these areas:

  1. Parasitology(e.g.. Schistosomiasis)
  2. Paralytic Shell Fish Poisoning (Red Tides)
  3. Envenomations
  4. Bacterial infections (e.g.. Vibrio vulnificus)
  5. Viral Conditions (Hepatitis A)
  6. Miscellaneous Conditions

Found on this Page:

 

1. Parasitology:  (Schistosomes and flukes)

 

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2. Paralytic Shell Fish Poisonings and “Red Tide”

 

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3. Envenomations:

 

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4.  Bacterial Conditions: 

V. vulnificus sepsis have been associated with the consumption of oysters and blue crabs (Blake et al., 1980).

 

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5.  Viral Conditions:

 

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6.  Miscellaneous Conditions:
  • Amnesic shellfish poisoning: "Shellfish can become toxic to humans by consuming large quantities of the diatom, Nitzschia pungens...the only shellfish implicated in cases of ASP have been mussels (Grey, 1988; Bird and Wright, 1989; Duerden, 1989; Shumway, 1989)..."

  • Bad Bug Book: FDA/CFSAN Bad Bug Book Various Shellfish-Associated Toxins ... yessotoxin. Neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP) is the result of
    exposure to a group of polyethers called brevetoxins.

  • Diarrhetic shellfish poisoning :  Filter-feeding molluscs can accumulate toxins in their hepatopancrease even at dinoflagellate concentrations below that necessary to discolor the water. Mussels (Kat, 1983), oysters, hard clams and soft-shell clams (Freudenthal and Jijina, 1985) have been implicated in cases of DSP. Contaminated scallops have caused cases of DSP in Japan (Yasumoto et al., 1980, as cited in Yasumoto, 1985), but the likelihood of scallops causing illness in this country is greatly reduced since the whole scallops are not typically consumed in the U.S., as they are in Japan.

  • Human Illness associated with HABs:... Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning (NSP). causative organism: Gymnodinium breve. toxins produced: Brevetoxins. NSP produces an intoxication ...

  • Neurotoxic shellfish poisoning and brevetoxin metabolites: a case study from Florida.

  • A report on the "Occurance of Tetrodotoxin in the Causative Gastropod Polinices didyma and another Gastropod Natica lineata Collected from Western Taiwan"

 

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Studies into developing medications and or cures from molluscs:
  • "Beauty and the Beast: Molecular Prospecting for Novel Drugs from the Sea". by Bruce Livett's;  Address to The Royal Society of Victoria, Thursday 13 March 1997.
    (Link problems: http://www.sciencevictoria.org.au/ord397.htm)
    (http://grimwade.biochem.unimelb.edu.au/cone/resource.html)

  • Snail toxin could ease chronic pain:Nature - Science Update: New painkiller may be 10,000 times stronger than morphine. 19 July 2002 by INGRID HOLMES

  • Clams and Cancer:  In the early 1980s, MBL researchers Joan Ruderman and Tim hunt discovered a previously unknown protein in fertilized clam eggs.  Interestingly, the protein accumulated and then disappeared as cells prepared to divide and then divided.  The protein, dubbed cyclin, turned out to be a regulator of cell division…”

  • Cancer: DTP - Natural Product Extract Cancer Screening Data: Cancer Cell Line Screening Data for Extracts in the Family Pinnidae

  • Cognetix, Inc..."is developing therapeutics based on research in marine natural products. The Company's most advanced product research and development efforts are based on 'conopeptides,' peptides derived from the venom of Conus species of predatory sea snails...Cognetix believes that the ultra-high specificity of the conopeptides should enable the development of novel, highly efficacious drugs with minimal side effects for treatment of central and peripheral nervous system disorders and cardiovascular disorders...."
    • Elan Corporation, plc. In January 2000, Cognetix and Elan agreed to establish a joint venture (called Erinetix™) to develop Cognetix' contulakin-G (CGX-1160) as a treatment for post-operative pain.
    • Medtronic, Inc. In February 1999, the Company entered into collaboration and investment agreements with Medtronic to support the development of a conantokin-based drug for delivery in a refillable Medtronic SynchroMed® implantable pump to treat severe epilepsy.

  • JBC online:-- Loughnan et al. 273 (25): 15667:  From the Centre for Drug Design and Development and Dept of Physiology and Pharmacology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia Queensland 4067, Australia and  The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville Victoria 3052, Australia Cone snail venoms contain complex mixtures of peptides (conotoxins or conopeptides) that bind with high affinity and specificity to a diversity of mammalian ...

  • Molecular Neurobiology - Dr. Olivera:  ... ca. 50,000 different pharmacologically-active peptides in the venoms of living cone snails; several of these are being developed for direct therapeutic use. ...

  • Rockpool Medicine:  Thursday, 13 April 2000;  “This is the story of Kirsten Benkendorff who recently discovered a new kind of antibiotic in the eggs of a common sea snail.  As part of her Ph.D. thesis, she searched the shores around Wollongong, collecting and testing the eggs of more than 40 marine molluscs that live in rock pools. The common dog whelk's eggs yielded a chemical as powerful as penicillin…”

  • Snail neurobiology: by Chris Elliott, Lecturer in Biology

  • Snails, Science and Sussex: "The Sussex Centre for Neuroscience is an Interdisciplinerary Research Centre based in the School of Biological Sciences(here's a picture of Biols building in the snow) at the University of Sussex. Most of the work is based on the model systems of the pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis and other invertebrates like the locust, cockroach and Drosophila."

  • Squid and Neurological Disorders:  “Endowed with a stunningly large nerve cell (or Axon), the Woods Hole squid has contributed so much to the study of nerve structure and function that  one biologist has suggested the Nobel Prize...

Ziconotide:  New Wonder Drug derived from the Cone Shell

Fields of interest using molluscs:

 

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Other Good Articles and Links:

 

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Related Articles:

 

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Traditional Medicine and the Mollusc:

 

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