Mariottini Gian Luigi, Giacco Elisabetta, Pane Luigi
Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Genova, Viale Benedetto XV 5, I-16132, Genova, Italy.
Mar Drugs. 2008;6(3):496-513. doi: 10.3390/md20080025. Epub 2008 Sep 4.
The toxicity of Cnidaria is a subject of concern due to its influence on humans. In particular, jellyfish blooms can highly affect human economical activities, such as bathing, fishery, tourism, etc., as well as the public health. Stinging structures of Cnidaria (nematocysts) produce remarkable effects on human skin, such as erythema, swelling, burning and vesicles, and at times further severe dermonecrotic, cardio- and neurotoxic effects, which are particularly dangerous in sensitive subjects. In several zones the toxicity of jellyfish is a very important health problem, thus it has stimulated the research on these organisms; to date toxicological research on Cnidarian venoms in the Mediterranean region is not well developed due to the weak poisonousness of venoms of jellyfish and anemones living in this area. In spite of this, during last decades several problems were also caused in the Mediterranean by stinging consequent to Cnidarian blooms mainly caused by Pelagia noctiluca (Forsskål, 1775) which is known to be the most venomous Mediterranean jellyfish. This paper reviews the knowledge on this jellyfish species, particularly considering its occurrence and toxicity.
由于刺胞动物对人类的影响，其毒性成为人们关注的一个话题。特别是水母大量繁殖会严重影响人类的经济活动，如游泳、渔业、旅游业等，还会影响公众健康。刺胞动物的刺细胞结构（刺丝囊）会对人体皮肤产生显著影响，如红斑、肿胀、灼烧感和水疱，有时还会产生更严重的皮肤坏死、心脏和神经毒性作用，这对敏感人群尤其危险。在一些地区，水母的毒性是一个非常重要的健康问题，因此激发了对这些生物的研究；由于生活在地中海地区的水母和海葵毒液毒性较弱，目前该地区关于刺胞动物毒液的毒理学研究并不完善。尽管如此，在过去几十年里，地中海地区也因主要由夜光游水母（Pelagia noctiluca，Forsskål，1775）引起的刺胞动物大量繁殖而导致了一些问题，夜光游水母是已知毒性最强的地中海水母。本文综述了关于这种水母物种的知识，尤其考虑了其分布和毒性。
