Libido-boosting sea ‘turd’ could hold the secret to fighting cancer, study suggests
A SEA cucumber that looks a lot like dog poo could hold the key to fighting cancer, a study suggests.
The stichopus horrens contains anti-cancer chemicals like terpenoid glycosides and saponins, Filipino researchers found.
The sea animal — which belongs to the same family as starfish and sea urchins — is famed for its resemblance to something you might scrape off your shoe.
The researchers analysed the organs and tissues of the sea cucumber to see what potentially medical benefits they might have.
Eizadora Yu, of the University of the Philippines, told Gizmodo: “What we did in this study is to identify as many compounds found in of S. horrens.
“What we found is that S. horrens contains a lot of bioactive compounds.”
Around three million Brits are currently living with cancer, with numbers expected to increase to more than 5.3million by 2040, according to Macmillan Cancer Support.
Cancer risk generally increases as you age for most cancer types, with the disease more prominent in people aged over 50.
Stichopus horrens is a specific type of sea cucumber — animals that have long been eaten in east and southeast Asia for their supposed medicinal benefits.
Traditional Chinese medicine proponents claim stichopus horrens can be used as an aphrodisiac, although this has not been proven in research.
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The sea cucumber is predominantly found in the Indo-Pacific and has been known to quickly shed off its external surface when touched by something as a defence mechanism.
The latest study, published in PLOS One, is the first to look at stichopus horrens’ possible biochemical benefits.
Researchers found the sea cucumbers contain fat molecules called cerebrosides, which could also very well be' the building blocks of sphingolipids.
These compounds from other sea cucumbers have been shown to kill human liver cancer cells in the lab.
They can also cause the body to produce neurites — projections from nerve cells that help people recover from spinal or traumatic brain injuries.
Researchers are now working on ways to extract the chemicals from the sea cucumbers so they can be tested as treatments in people.
Yu said: "We are currently studying how traditional processing methods — drying, boiling — will affect the metabolome of S. horrens, and we would also like to perform metabolomics on other sea cucumber species to support national blue economy initiatives.”