Leeches attenuate blood hyperviscosity and related metabolic disorders in rats differently than aspirin
Research article published in Journal of ethnopharmacology (2019)
Resumen
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Whitmania pigra Whitman (Whitmania pigra, WP), firstly recorded in the Shennong's Herbal Classic and officially listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, is a well-used cardiovascular protective traditional Chinese medicine derived from leeches. Traditional Chinese physicians prefer to prescribe the dried whole body of leech processed under high temperatures. It has been reported that dried WP remains clinically effective. However, the therapeutic mechanism has yet not be clearly elucidated. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study was designed to investigate the protective activity of the extract of WP in a high-molecular-weight dextran-induced blood hyperviscosity rat model, and to explore the role of WP in improving blood hyperviscosity related metabolic disorders and to clarify the possible mechanism of metabolic regulation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The hemorheological parameters were measured with an automated blood rheology analyzer. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe the pathological changes in aortic tissues samples. Further, a liquid chromatography-mass-spectrometry (LC-MS)-based untargeted metabolomics approach was applied to characterize the metabolic alterations. RESULTS: WP has evident attenuating effects on blood hyperviscosity and related metabolic disorders, and the influences are distinct from those of aspirin. The results showed that WP had good effects in reducing blood viscosity and ameliorating histopathological changes in the thoracic aorta in a high molecular weight dextran-induced blood hyperviscosity rat model. The middle dose (2.5 g raw material/kg body weight) of WP exhibited effects equivalent to aspirin (100 mg/kg) on hemorheological and histopathological parameters (P > 0.05). However, when using metabolomics profiling, we found that WP could significantly improve blood hyperviscosity-related metabolic disorders and restore metabolites to normal levels; while aspirin showed little effect. With principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis, WP regulated many more endogenous metabolites than aspirin. With pathway enrichment analysis, the differential endogenous metabolites were involved in cysteine and methionine metabolism, TCA cycle, arachidonic acid metabolism, etc., highlighting the metabolic reprogramming potential of WP against blood hyperviscosity-induced metabolic disorders. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggest that WP has a more potent effect, but a different mechanism, than aspirin in improving either blood hyperviscosity or related metabolic disorders associated with cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases.
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El resumen se deja sin traducir para conservar la redacción original de los autores.
Síntesis
In dextran-induced blood hyperviscosity rats, Whitmania pigra extract (middle dose 2.5 g raw material/kg matching aspirin 100 mg/kg on rheology and aorta histology) also corrected metabolic disorders across cysteine/methionine, TCA and arachidonic acid pathways, where aspirin had little effect.
Por qué esto importa para la hirudoterapia
Este estudio investigó cómo un extracto de cuerpo completo desecado de Whitmania pigra, una sanguijuela utilizada en la medicina tradicional china, protege contra la hiperviscosidad sanguínea inducida por dextrano de alto peso molecular en un modelo de rata. Para la hirudoterapia, esto es muy relevante, ya que demuestra que el extracto de sanguijuela reduce la viscosidad sanguínea, mejora los cambios histopatológicos en la aorta y repara los trastornos metabólicos relacionados de manera más eficaz y a través de vías diferentes a las de la aspirina. Estos hallazgos ponen de relieve el potencial de las preparaciones derivadas de sanguijuela en el manejo de enfermedades cardiovasculares y cerebrovasculares. Sin embargo, la investigación es enteramente preclínica, basándose en un modelo animal y en polvo de sanguijuela procesado a alta temperatura en lugar de aplicación de sanguijuelas vivas o de una población clínica.
Citación
Referencia (estilo Vancouver)
Wang X, Niu M, Wu SN, Hu HW, Liu XY, Ma SY, et al. Leeches attenuate blood hyperviscosity and related metabolic disorders in rats differently than aspirin. J Ethnopharmacol. 2019;238:111813. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2019.03.040. PMID: 30910578
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Añadido a la biblioteca ASH: 27 de mayo de 2026 · Última actualización del sitio: 18 de junio de 2026