European Medicinal Leeches - New Roles in Modern Medicine
Review published in Biomedicines (2020)
Abstract
Before the advent of modern medicine, natural resources were widely used by indigenous populations for the prevention and treatment of diseases. The associated knowledge, collectively described as folk medicine or traditional medicine, was largely based on trial-and-error testing of plant extracts (herbal remedies) and the use of invertebrates, particularly medicinal maggots of the blowfly Lucilia sericata and blood-sucking leeches. The widespread use of traditional medicine in the West declined as scientific advances allowed reproducible testing under controlled conditions and gave rise to the modern fields of biomedical research and pharmacology. However, many drugs are still derived from natural resources, and interest in traditional medicine has been renewed by the ability of researchers to investigate the medical potential of diverse species by high-throughput screening. Likewise, researchers are starting to look again at the benefits of maggot and leech therapy, based on the hypothesis that the use of such animals in traditional medicine is likely to reflect the presence of specific bioactive molecules that can be developed as drug leads. In this review, we consider the modern medical benefits of European medicinal leeches based on the systematic screening of their salivary proteins.
Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.
Resumen
Review of modern medical benefits of European medicinal leeches (Hirudo spp.) through systematic salivary-protein screening. Covers hirudin, antistasins, eglins, saratins and drug-discovery applications.
Por qué esto importa para la hirudoterapia
Esta revisión examina los beneficios médicos modernos de las sanguijuelas medicinales europeas basándose en un cribado sistemático de sus proteínas salivales, enmarcando el renovado interés científico en la terapia con sanguijuelas en la hipótesis de que el uso tradicional de animales medicinales refleja moléculas bioactivas específicas dignas de desarrollo como fármacos líderes. Analiza las sanguijuelas medicinales europeas junto con larvas medicinales (Lucilia sericata) en el contexto del renovado descubrimiento de fármacos de productos naturales posibilitado por el cribado de alto rendimiento. Para el ámbito de ASH, esto es directa y centralmente relevante: se trata de una revisión dedicada a las proteínas salivales de la sanguijuela como fuente de moléculas bioactivas para la medicina moderna, en consonancia precisa con el interés de ASH en el secretoma de la sanguijuela y la hirudoterapia. Matiz: al ser una revisión, sintetiza la literatura existente sin nuevos datos experimentales, y el resumen no especifica hallazgos individuales, eficacia clínica ni proteínas específicas caracterizadas.
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Añadido a la biblioteca ASH: May 27, 2026 · Última actualización del sitio: 18 de junio de 2026