Marine Discovery CenterHorseshoe Crab

Medical Wonder

The 400

The Horseshoe crab is one of over 400 species found in the

IRL.

Bacteria are everywhere in our

environment.

What does this have to do with us and The

horseshoe crab?

Certainly not the prettiest but the most

important.

Certainly not the prettiest

But

One of the most vital to all of us

AND

They are not even true crabs

NOT EVEN CLOSE

There is no other species in North America closely related to them. A class by themselves…………..

In more ways than one, as we will see.

About them

They hang around in the mud

They eat worms and shell fish

HOWEVER

Their health and survival is

vital to as all!

Especially my family

WHY??

Anyone care to guess why

they are so important to us.

HINT

CHAD ALREADY TOLD US!

http://www.horseshoecrab.org/med/me

d.html

How does the horseshoe crab protect the

public health?

The horseshoe crab plays a vital role in injectable

medication.

An extract of the horseshoe crab's blood is used by the

pharmaceutical and medical device industries to ensure

that their products, e.g., intravenous drugs, vaccines, and

medical devices, are free of bacterial contamination.

ENDOTOXINS

No other test works as easily

or reliably for this purpose.

Bacteria around us can cause disease

Salmonella

Cholera

Tetanus

Lyme Disease

ENDOTOXINS

The bacterial toxin of greatest concern is termed endotoxin, and

it is able to withstand steam sterilization.

http://www.horseshoecrab.org/med/me

d.html

There is class of bacteria of most concern is known as

Gram-negative, for their characteristic of being easily

decolorized during the Gram staining procedure.

Surprisingly, it is the non-pathogenic members of the

Gram-negative group, those that love aquatic

environments, which cause the most problems for the

pharmaceutical industry.

An Unlikely Superhero

THE HORSESHOE CRAB TO THE RESUCE. Where is his cape??

DISCOVERY 1960

when common marine bacteria were

injected into the bloodstream of the North

American horseshoe crab,

massive clotting occurred.

, these investigators were able to localize

the clotting phenomenon to the blood cells,

amebocytes, of the horseshoe crab

Thus, the horseshoe crab is constantly threatened with

infection due to its environment. The horseshoe crab lacks

an immune system; It does contain a number of

compounds that will bind to and inactivate bacteria,

fungi, and viruses.

It is one of the marvels of evolution that the horseshoe

crab uses endotoxin as a signal for wound occurrence and

as an extremely effective defense against infection.

The blood….

…..forms a physical barrier against additional

bacterial entry and infection and creates a

physical barrier against additional bacterial entry

and infection.

How is this done?

Horseshoe crabs are collected by hand and are not injured during this process.

Once the crabs are caught, they are transported to the laboratory from the fishing pier by truck. During the bleeding process, up to 30% of the animal's blood is removed. Research has shown that once returned to the water, the horseshoe crab's blood volume rebounds in about a week.

The Associates of Cape Cod and other LAL manufacturers have studied horseshoe crab mortality following the bleeding procedure and have found it to be quite low, less than 3% when compared to controls handled similarly but not bled. There are no records of a horseshoe crab dying during the bleeding process itself. Other studies conducted by government agencies and universities indicate a mortality of 10-15%. However, the horseshoe crabs in these studies were not handled as carefully as those collected by the LAL industry.