[Medicinal leeches]
Research article published in Revue medicale de Bruxelles (2009)
Abstract
Leeches are hermaphroditic and hematophagous annelids. One important medical species, Hirudo medicinalis, comes from hirudiniculture of fresh water pools. Thanks to their three mandibles with some 300 teeth on their anterior muscular sucker, they easily grab to tissues and by secreting their saliva containing numerous powerful enzymes, such as hyaluronidase, collagenase and inhibitors of platelet aggregation and coagulation, like hirudin, allow blood sucking. Once they are full of blood (up to 15 g of blood), they detach themselves from their prey. Used ever since the 18th Egyptian Dynasty, leeches became famous during the first part of the XIXth century, thanks to a French physician, François Joseph Victor Broussais, known to his adversaries as the "vampire of medicine" for treating various conditions such as phlebotomy, laryngitis, ocular problems, obesity, mental disorders, etc. Overfishing, therapeutic failures and most particularly, the emergence of hygiene, brought the decline of living leeches. In 1884, an extract of leeches was obtained--hirudin and henceforth used. Nowadays, leeches are still used in microsurgery to enhance the venous circulation in finger reimplantation or skin flap transposition. Hirudin is synthesized through recombinant DNA technology and molecules such as lepirudin and desirudin are available on the market as anticoagulant.
Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.
Summary
Leeches are hermaphroditic and hematophagous annelids. One important medical species, Hirudo medicinalis, comes from hirudiniculture of fresh water pools.
Why This Matters for Hirudotherapy
This article provides an overview of the medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis, describing its biology, salivary bioactive components—including hirudin, hyaluronidase, collagenase, and inhibitors of platelet aggregation and coagulation—as well as its historical therapeutic uses and modern clinical applications in microsurgery for venous congestion in digit reimplantation and skin flap procedures. The article is directly relevant to ASH's domain, connecting the leech salivary secretome to both historical and contemporary hirudotherapy and noting the development of recombinant hirudin derivatives (lepirudin, desirudin) as marketed anticoagulants. However, the abstract presents no original experimental data, quantitative clinical outcomes, or systematic analysis. Its value is primarily educational and historical, offering context on leech biology and hirudotherapy practice rather than new empirical findings.
Citation
Added to ASH library: March 18, 2026 · Site last updated: June 18, 2026