A freshwater sponge, which, due to its structure, is actively used in medicine as a local irritant.

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In medicine

Externally, badyagu is used for bruises and to treat contusions accompanied by the appearance of bruises; as a local anesthetic for pain in muscles and joints of a rheumatic nature, neuralgia, radiculitis.

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In cosmetology

The cosmetics industry produces ointments, creams, gels, and peelings based on badyagi. Badyagu is used as a remedy for acne. It dries them out and prevents the appearance of new ones, and also fights blackheads. In addition, badyagi is widely used for bruises, as well as against stretch marks and cellulite.

Attention! When using badyagi, you must be careful, as it can cause severe irritation, allergies and be harmful to the skin.

Classification

Badyagi belong to the Badyagov family (Spongillidae), type Sponges (Spongia or Porifera). About 20 species of freshwater sponges live in the CIS, but only a few species have found use in medical practice: Spongilla lacustris L., S. Fragilis Leidy, Ephydatia fluviatilis (L.)

Botanical description

Appearance

Badyagi are primitive multicellular freshwater sponges that form immobile colonies in the form of growths of various shapes. Young colonies form a crust 2-3 mm thick. Perennial colonies reach a weight of several kilograms. River badyagi form lumpy growths up to 70 cm long and 30 cm thick, lake ones - bushy finger-shaped outgrowths up to 1 m long. The sponge feeds, filtering suspended microorganisms through small pores into the internal cavity, which opens with larger excretory stomata. Sponges are active in summer; in the fall, the colonies die off, forming asexually internal buds - gemmules, surrounded by a dense membrane of clusters of cells. These overwintering buds, about 0.5 mm in diameter, are visible on the break as yellow or brown grains. In spring, a new colony develops from gemmules. The color of the colonies from grayish to green depends on the algae living in the body of the sponges.

Structure

The body of the badyagi is covered with a dermal membrane; inside there is a complex system of channels and cavities. The cavities are lined with flagellar cells. A large number of spicules are located between the channels. Spicules are thin needles of silica that form the skeleton of the badyagi. They can be smooth or spiny, straight or curved, prismatic, pointed at the poles. The spicules are glued together by the protein spongin or sponginolin, which is similar in chemical composition to silk. When rubbing the badyagi, a tingling sensation and a sharp unpleasant odor are felt. Along with spicules, amphidisks can sometimes be observed - rods with two perpendicular star-shaped disks at the ends.

The composition of badyagi also includes phosphate and carbon dioxide salts of lime and a number of organic substances.

Spreading

Badyaga is found at shallow depths in lakes, rivers, reservoirs, ponds and streams, settling near the shores on stones, stems, sunken snags and tree trunks.

Sponges reach their greatest diversity in tropical and subtropical regions of the World Ocean.

Regions of distribution on the map of Russia.

Procurement of raw materials

The medicinal raw materials from which the medicine is produced are the collected and dried colonies of intestinal freshwater animals - badiags - collected throughout the summer.

Colonies of sponges are separated from the submerged objects to which they are attached, placed in a bucket or box, cleaned of silt, sand, bark, wood residues and washed in water. Dry outdoors in the sun or in an attic under an iron roof. After drying, foreign impurities are removed from the raw material.

When preparing raw materials, you should handle badiag colonies carefully, since the contact of silicon needles with the mucous membranes of the eyes and nose causes irritation.

The raw material is represented by light, porous, fine- or coarse-mesh fragile pieces of various shapes and sizes, easily crumbling when rubbed with a feeling of roughness from the presence of silicon needles.

Pharmacological properties

Badyaga is used as a local irritant. The pharmacological activity of the drug is due to silica needles. Sharp silica crystals mechanically cause severe irritation of the skin at the site of rubbing, dilation of subcutaneous capillaries and deeper-lying blood vessels. This helps to activate superficial blood supply, relieve local pain and provide an excellent absorption effect on the affected areas.

When using badyagi, there is a local release of biologically active substances: autacoids, kinins, histamine, prostaglandins, which promote the healing of damaged tissues, the resorption of scars, bruises and seals, and also restore the protective functions of the skin.

Typically, applying badyagi to the skin is accompanied by a weak heating effect and temporary local redness of the skin.

When using the drug, the following precautions must be observed: do not allow badiaga to come into contact with mucous membranes (eyes, mouth, nose, etc.), since badiaga causes irritation. If the drug gets on the mucous membranes, they must be washed thoroughly with water.

Literature

1. State Register of Medicines. Moscow 2004. Volume 1.

2. State Register of Medicines. Moscow 2004. Volume II. Part 1. Typical clinical and pharmacological articles.

3. Great medical encyclopedia. Second edition. Moscow. 1957. Volume 3.

4. B.M. Korshikov, A.D. Mityukov, S.G. Shamruk. "Procurement of wild-growing products." Minsk; 1977.

5. Encyclopedia of medicinal herbs “Zerde-press”.

6. Pharmacopoeial article 42-1564-00 “Badyaga”.

7. Medicinal plants./Comp. V. Raschupkina, G. Yakubovich. – Kaliningrad: Publishing house “Kaliningradskaya Pravda”, 1974 – 240 p.

8. Yu. V. Efimchenko, A.V. White.Medicinal plants. Methodological recommendations for doctors and pharmacists. – Labinsk, “Uprizdat”, 1974

9. Shatokhina R.K. Medicinal raw materials of animal origin. – St. Petersburg: SPbKhFI, 1994. – 56 p.

Water sponges(porifera, spongia) are the most mysterious creatures. They are so primitively organized that until the beginning of the 19th century they were considered plants. They have no sense organs, and adults also lack the ability to move. They do not have a mouth opening. Eating is carried out by filtering water through the channels and labyrinths with which their bodies are dotted. The sponge is immortal and invulnerable. It can be rubbed through a sieve and its particles will then reassemble into a new viable organism.

It has been observed that the water around sponge colonies remains clean, even though many sponges die. In addition, several decades ago it was discovered that some aquatic animals die if chemicals extracted from sponges are dissolved in the water they are in. The effect of substances secreted by various sponges was tested on pathogenic microorganisms grown in laboratory conditions. These substances killed most of the microbes.

One example is the Okinawan sea sponge (Okinawan plakortis), from which the tyramine-containing pyrrolidine alkaloid plakoridine A is obtained, which has significant potential and is being studied as a cytotoxin in lymphoma cells in mice.

One of the first drugs to treat cancer, cytosine arabinoside, was isolated from a Caribbean sponge.

Sponges and their microscopic endosymbionts are currently being actively studied as possible sources of drugs for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. Sponges have great medicinal potential due to the presence of chemicals in most of them or their symbionts that have antiviral, antibacterial, antitumor and antifungal properties.

Having by their nature no protective shell or organ for protection, sponges are vulnerable to harmful microorganisms, and as a result, their evolution has led to the development of the ability to synthesize various unusual protective chemical compounds. One example is a family of compounds formed by the oxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids called oxylipins. Compounds in this family have been found to have anticancer, antibacterial, and antifungal properties.

Subtropical redbeard sponge ( Microciona prolifera)

Substances isolated from the subtropical redbeard sponge turned out to be highly effective in the treatment of tuberculosis. Substances discovered by researchers in plankton (the smallest aquatic organisms) also have a detrimental effect on tuberculosis bacilli.

From substances of the red beard sponge ( Microciona prolifera) managed to obtain two drugs - water-soluble and fat-soluble. The first is used in the form of inhalations of the nasopharynx and respiratory tract, and the second is used to lubricate the mucous membranes. In both cases, a significant treatment effect was detected.

Caribbean sponges

Other physiologically active substances have been obtained from various types of sponges. In 1950, the unique properties of one type of Caribbean sponge were discovered. Its nucleic acids do not contain ribose, which is a key ingredient in almost all nucleic acids, but arabinose. Based on data from the study of nucleic acids of this sponge, several compounds containing arabinose instead of ribose were synthesized.

This is how cytosine arabinose was obtained. The mechanism of its effect on human blood cells affected by leukemia is that it replaces the ribose of these cells with arabinose and, thereby delaying their growth, ultimately kills cancer cells. This drug turned out to be effective in a fairly large number of cases and, although the results of the experiments are still far from ideal, it served as the basis for the creation of more effective drugs. After ten years of research, cytosine arabinose was approved by the US federal government for mass production. In the former USSR, this compound is used under the name “cytarabine”.

Ageliferin is also an antiviral and antimicrobial chemical compound that is produced by some sponges. It was first isolated from Caribbean sponges and then from Okinawan sea sponges of the genus Agelas.

Caribbean sponge Tectitethya Crypta (or Cryptotethya Crypta and Tethya Crypta), class common ( Demospongia), row Hadromerida, families Tethyidae. Nucleosides (spongothymidine, spongouridine) were isolated from this sponge, which are the basis for antiviral and anticancer drugs, in particular drugs for leukemia. A substance was isolated from the same sponge that was effective in treating viral encephalitis.

Badyaga (freshwater sponge)

It’s impossible not to remember the freshwater sponge that is sold in our pharmacies - this is badyaga ( Spongilla). Badyagovye ( Spongillidae) - a family of freshwater sponges from the class ordinary ( Demospongia). Pharmaceutical badyaga is a powder for preparing medications. In a living state, it has the appearance of a yellow-brownish or olive-greenish mucous mass. Badyaga reaches 40 cm in length and densely grows over objects in the water and tree trunks that serve as its support. She lives in rivers, ponds and swamps.

It exerts its medicinal effect mainly due to the flint needles included in its composition, interconnected by an organic substance - spongin, or sponginin. The composition of bodyagi also includes phosphate and carbon dioxide salts of lime and a number of organic substances.

Since ancient times, badyagu has been dried and used in the form of powder, suspensions (solutions) and ointments, causing severe mechanical irritation of the skin, for rheumatic and neurological pain, radiculitis, arthritis, rheumatism and bruises, for external treatment of hematomas and bruises. Mechanical irritation of the skin increases blood circulation, as a result of the use of badyagi, skin pores are cleaned and narrowed, dead epidermal cells are removed, and pigment spots after inflamed acne are resolved. In addition, oxygenation of the skin, the synthesis of biologically active substances, redox processes are stimulated, the result is refreshing and smoothing of the skin, as well as improved tone and color. Which for tired and aging skin shows signs of rejuvenation.

It was also used as a blush, which ultimately led to irreparable damage to the skin.

In folk medicine, bodyaga is used in the form of masks for treatment, as well as for removing post-acne pigment spots.

Contraindications: individual intolerance, not recommended for open wounds and ulcers, very dry and thin, easily irritated and sensitive skin, with even slight hair growth on the skin, with dilated blood vessels. With frequent use of badyagi, irritation, redness and dryness of the skin, as well as severe mechanical damage to the skin, are possible.

It is also necessary to carry out a preliminary check for an allergic reaction: a small amount of the mixture, before applying to the skin of the face, must be applied to a small area of ​​the skin in an inconspicuous place; if redness occurs, it is not recommended to use the badyagu.

Marine New Zealand sponges (Chalichondria maori)

The healing properties of sea sponges Halichondria moorei have long been known to the New Zealand aborigines, who used them to treat wounds. The journal Science (1979. No. 4422) reported that a large amount of fluorine was found in these sponges - up to 11.5% of the dry weight. They have an increased ability to accumulate it.

It was found that the therapeutic activity is due to the content of the long-known sodium fluorosilicate Na 2 SiF 6, which reduces the local inflammatory response. The healing effect of chalichondria applied to the wound is expressed in the fact that the wound does not become inflamed. However, this remedy is unlikely to find use in scientific medicine, since sodium fluorosilicate is a toxic compound - intraperitoneal administration to mice causes convulsions.

Greek toilet sponge (Spongia officinalis)

Toilet sponge (Spongia officinalis) or Greek sponge (Euspongia officinalis), one of a group of types of toilet sponges, was widely used in the household as a household washcloth until the invention of synthetic analogues. Currently, it is used less frequently and, as a rule, not for household purposes, but as a sponge for cosmetic procedures and in homeopathy. It lives throughout the Mediterranean Sea, where its fishing was carried out quite widely and led to a serious depletion of natural reserves.

A living sponge is gray in color; when dried, it becomes yellow or brownish-red in color (similar to foam rubber, but softer). Not to be confused with washcloths made of plant origin.

Rich in iodine and bromine, toilet sponge is currently used in Europe as a homeopathic remedy and can also be found in online pharmacies under the name "Greek sponge". The toilet sponge is indicated for thyroid dysfunction, as well as accompanying symptoms: palpitations, shortness of breath and hot flashes. It is considered an effective cough suppressant. The inorganic salts contained in this sponge are considered an excellent remedy for diseases of the mucous membranes. It is also used for spasmodic and acute dry coughs, as well as throat diseases, in particular laryngitis.

Therapeutic properties: contains iodine, bromine, calcium carbonate, potassium phosphate, silicon dioxide and other organic substances with medicinal properties.

Action: activates the functions of the upper respiratory tract, reduces spasms during breathing and acts directly on the larynx. Relieves disorders because it stimulates saliva production.

Main purpose: used in cases of breathing problems, hoarseness, cough. It is also used in cases of cardiac weakness or inflammatory heart diseases. In psychology, the main area of ​​application is panic attacks, especially at night: it helps balance breathing and relieves the feeling of suffocation.

Preparation: Captured sea sponges must be cleaned and dried until they acquire their characteristic brown color. After which they are ground into powder, and then the extract is extracted, which serves as the basis for homeopathic preparations.

Sponges are aquatic, mainly marine animals. Their body consists of two layers of cells. The lips are completely motionless and cannot feel irritation. About 5,000 species of this type of animal are known.

The structure of the badyagi sponge. In summer, in lakes and rivers near the shore, you can see brown or greenish growths on stones and tree branches that have fallen into the water. When taken out of the water, they emit a strong, unpleasant odor.

Taking a closer look, you can see that the entire surface of such a growth, as if with traces of pin pricks, is pierced by numerous tiny holes. The growth is slimy to the touch, but if you tear off a piece of it and rub it between your fingers, you feel that there are tiny hard particles inside. The growth grows tightly together with a branch or stone and does not have a specific shape. It's hard to believe that this peculiar animal is a freshwater sponge.

A young sponge looks like a small bag, open at the top, with a cavity inside. It has a different base, with which the sponge attaches to various underwater objects, side walls and a hole at the top - the mouth.

The body consists of many cells arranged in two layers. In the outer layer, the cells are flattened, they close together and seem to envelop the body of the sponge. Some cells of this layer have openings - pores leading into the body. The inner layer of cells is very different from the outer one. Each of its cells is equipped with a flagellum facing the internal cavity of the sponge. The movement of the flagella creates a constant flow of water, which penetrates the cavity through small pores in the cells of its side walls and is discharged out through the mouth. Along with water, food gets inside the sponge - bacteria and other microscopic organisms. Flagellar cells capture them and digest them.

The sponge has a skeleton consisting of a large number of tiny solid bodies in the form of needles, anchors, and polygonal stars. The skeleton contains mineral salts and horn-like organic matter. It is these needles that prick the skin when the sponge is rubbed between the fingers.

As it grows, the structure of the sponge becomes more complex. Protrusions appear on its side walls, at the ends of which new openings appear. A grown sponge is not at all similar in appearance to a young one: it looks like a loose porous mass with numerous holes - mouths and pores.

Practical significance of sponges. Only a few dozen species of sponges live in fresh water bodies, but they are very numerous in the seas. The Greek sponge, devoid of a calcareous skeleton, is especially widely known, living at shallow depths in the Mediterranean and Red Seas. The extracted sponges are crushed for a long time and the destroyed cells are washed with water. The result is an elastic mass of horn-like substance - a toilet sponge. Freshwater badyaga, dried and crushed, is used in medicine to treat rheumatism - its powder is rubbed on sore spots.