Effects of Medicinal Leech-Related Cationic Antimicrobial Peptides on Human Blood Cells and Plasma
Research article published in Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) (2022)
Abstract
Cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs) are considered as next-generation antibiotics with a lower probability of developing bacterial resistance. In view of potential clinical use, studies on CAMP biocompatibility are important. This work aimed to evaluate the behavior of synthetic short CAMPs (designed using bioinformatic analysis of the medicinal leech genome and microbiome) in direct contact with blood cells and plasma. Eight CAMPs were included in the study. Hemolysis and lactate dehydrogenase assays showed that the potency to disrupt erythrocyte, neutrophil and mononuclear cell membranes descended in the order pept_1 > pept_3 ~ pept_5 > pept_2 ~ pept_4. Pept_3 caused both cell lysis and aggregation. Blood plasma and albumin inhibited the CAMP-induced hemolysis. The chemiluminescence method allowed the detection of pept_3-mediated neutrophil activation. In plasma coagulation assays, pept_3 prolonged the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and prothrombin time (at 50 μM by 75% and 320%, respectively). Pept_3 was also capable of causing fibrinogen aggregation. Pept_6 prolonged APTT (at 50 μM by 115%). Pept_2 was found to combine higher bactericidal activity with lower effects on cells and coagulation. Our data emphasize the necessity of investigating CAMP interaction with plasma.
Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.
Summary
Cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs) are considered as next-generation antibiotics with a lower probability of developing bacterial resistance.
Why This Matters for Hirudotherapy
This study evaluated the biocompatibility of eight synthetic cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs) designed using bioinformatic analysis of the medicinal leech genome and microbiome, testing their effects on human blood cells and plasma. Key findings included varying hemolytic and membrane-disruptive potencies, inhibition of hemolysis by plasma/albumin, neutrophil activation by pept_3, and coagulation effects including APTT/PT prolongation and fibrinogen aggregation. This is directly relevant to ASH's domain, as it addresses how leech-derived peptidic molecules interact with human blood components, informing biocompatibility of potential leech-secretome-based therapeutics. Caveat: these are bioinformatically designed synthetic peptides, not isolated natural leech secretome constituents, and the study is an in vitro blood-contact assay without in vivo or clinical data.
Citation
Effects of Medicinal Leech-Related Cationic Antimicrobial Peptides on Human Blood Cells and Plasma
Vakhrusheva TV et al. · Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 2022
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