Validation of Medicinal Leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) as a Non-invasive Blood Sampling Tool for Hematology and Biochemistry Profiling in Mammals

Blood sampling is a challenging procedure in many captive animals. Although manual restraint or anesthesia are usually possible, they entail intense stress and a high risk of injuries or organ failure. Blood sampling using medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) represents a promising non-invasive alternative to venipuncture; however, leech blood meal was to date used only for qualitative analyses such as genetic or serological screenings. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of the leech blood sampling method for quantification of hematological and biochemical parameters. Medicinal leeches were manually applied on 67 zoo animals of eleven species, and control blood samples were obtained by venipuncture of the jugular vein. The leeches drew up to 20 ml of blood in 20 to 55 min. Although most hematological and biochemical parameters were significantly altered in leech-derived samples, their values showed strong (r = 0.62-0.79; 10/24 parameters) to very strong (r > 0.8; 13/24 parameters) correlations with venipuncture in all blood parameters, except for sodium (r = 0.39). As the parameter alterations and correlations were similar among species, simple cross-species regression formulas were sufficient to correct the alterations, thereby ensuring good repeatability between leeches and venipuncture in most parameters. Our data thus suggest that medicinal leeches can be used as a reliable non-invasive and stress-reducing alternative to standard venipuncture, even for quantitative assays. This opens new opportunities for a significant improvement to animal welfare in zoological gardens, conservation programmes, and ecophysiological research, where quantification of blood parameters is often needed.

Abstract aus PubMed (NCBI) für den zitierten Eintrag, in der Originalsprache wiedergegeben. Maßgeblich ist die Fassung der Originalpublikation.

Das Abstract wird nicht übersetzt, damit die eigene Wortwahl der Autoren erhalten bleibt.

Applying medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) to 67 zoo animals of eleven species, the authors found most leech-derived hematological and biochemical parameters showed strong to very strong correlations with venipuncture samples.

Erfahren Sie, wie diese Forschung mit der klinischen Praxis verknüpft ist

Weitere begutachtete Studien in der Kategorie „Genomik & Proteomik“.

• Leech Salivary Proteome and Transcriptome: 434 Deduced Protein Sequences — Liu Z, Tong X, Su Y, et al. (2019)
• Medicinal Leech Draft Genome — Anticoagulant Gene Survey — Kvist S, Manzano-Marín A, de Carle D, Trontelj P, Siddall ME (2020)
• Blutegeltherapie (Hirudo medicinalis) mildert die durch testikuläre Ischämie/Reperfusion induzierten Hodenschäden in einem Tiermodell — Davoodi F et al. (2021)
• Neues antikoagulatorisches Protein aus dem medizinischen Blutegel — Manuvera V et al. (2024)
• AIF-1 und RNASET2 spielen komplementäre Rollen in der angeborenen Immunantwort des medizinischen Blutegels — Baranzini N et al. (2019)
• Antimikrobielle Peptide des medizinischen Blutegels ohne Toxizität stellen eine vielversprechende alternative Strategie zur Bekämpfung antibiotikaresistenter Erreger dar — Grafskaia E et al. (2019)
• Structural insights into thrombolytic activity of destabilase from medicinal leech — Marin E et al. (2023)
• Das Genom des medizinischen Blutegels (Whitmania pigra) und eine vergleichende Genomstudie zur Erforschung bioaktiver Inhaltsstoffe — Tong L et al. (2022)
• Das ZNS des medizinischen Blutegels als Modell für Exosomen-Studien zum Wechselspiel zwischen Mikroglia und Neuronen — Raffo-Romero A et al. (2018)
• Transcriptomic profiling and the first spatial expression analysis of candidate genes in the salivary gland of the East Asian medicinal leech, Hirudo nipponia — Kim J et al. (2024)

Alle von der ASH analysierten Studien →