Hemolytic, anticancer and antigiardial activity of Palythoa caribaeorum venom

Cnidarian venoms and extracts have shown a broad variety of biological activities including cytotoxic, antibacterial and antitumoral effects. Most of these studied extracts were obtained from sea anemones or jellyfish. The present study aimed to determine the toxic activity and assess the antitumor and antiparasitic potential of venom by evaluating its in vitro toxicity on several models including human tumor cell lines and against the parasite . The presence of cytolysins and vasoconstrictor activity of venom were determined by hemolysis, PLA and isolated rat aortic ring assays, respectively. The cytotoxic effect was tested on HCT-15 (human colorectal adenocarcinoma), MCF-7 (human mammary adenocarcinoma), K562 (human chronic myelogenous leukemia), U251 (human glyoblastoma), PC-3 (human prostatic adenocarcinoma) and SKLU-1 (human lung adenocarcinoma). An in vivo toxicity assay was performed with crickets and the antiparasitic assay was performed against at 24 h of incubation. venom produced hemolytic and PLA activity and showed specific cytotoxicity against U251 and SKLU-1 cell lines, with approximately 50% growing inhibition. The venom was toxic to insects and showed activity against in a dose-dependent manner by possibly altering its membrane osmotic equilibrium. These results suggest that venom contains compounds with potential therapeutic value against microorganisms and cancer.