Zinc may help treat box jellyfish stings
Cubozoan’s lethal venom strikes red blood cells, new study finds
By Nathan Seppa
A zinc compound sometimes taken to treat the common cold might have a second career as emergency treatment for anyone unlucky enough to get stung by an Australian box jellyfish, a new study finds. Researchers also find that venom from stings seems to poke holes in red blood cells, triggering the release of potassium that stops the heart when tested in mice.
Box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri), which roam the seas off northern Australia, deliver some of the most potent venom found in nature. In the last decade, scientists have shown that the venom can create pores in cells, spilling their contents. But the fundamental aspects of the venom’s lethality have been poorly understood.
Australian researchers have proposed that the venom attacks heart muscle cells, which would explain why sting victims sometimes suffer cardiac arrest. But in the new study, published online December 12 in PLOS ONE, Angel Yanagihara and Ralph Shohet of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu report that reinforced pores form in red blood cells exposed to the box jellyfish’s venom.