Poly-paraphyly of Hirudinidae: many lineages of medicinal leeches

Phillips, Anna J.; Siddall, Mark E.

doi:10.1186/1471-2148-9-246

Cited by 91 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…For several years, there has been renewed interest in the use of medicinal leeches, especially for reducing blood coagulation, relieving venous pressure from pooling blood, and treating congestive complications after plastic and reconstructive surgery [8, 9]. Widespread recognition and acceptance of leech usage within the medical community came in 2004 when the US Food and Drug Administration officially approved the marketing and sale of the medicinal leech as a medical device for relieving venous congestion [10, 11]. 650 species of leeches are found all over the world and Hirudo medicinalis is a kind of leech medically used in the western countries [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chinese Medicinal Leech: Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacological Activities

Han

Ren

Wang

et al. 2016

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Hirudo (Shuizhi in Chinese) is an important Chinese medicine, which possesses many therapeutic properties for the treatment of the cerebral hemorrhage and other thrombosis-related diseases. The phytochemical investigation gave more than 51 compounds including pteridines, phosphatidylcholines, glycosphingolipids, and sterols, as well as some bioactive peptides from the Shuizhi derived from three animal species recorded in the current Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The pharmacological studies on the Shuizhi have revealed various activities such as anticoagulation, antithrombosis, antiatherosclerosis, antiplatelet aggregation, antitumor and anti-inflammatory as well as hemorheology improvement, and protective effects against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. However, some important issues based on the traditional uses of Shuizhi are still not clear. The aim of the present review is to provide comprehensive knowledge on the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and pharmacological activities of Shuizhi. It will provide a potential guidance in exploring main active compounds of Shuizhi and interpreting the action mechanism for the further research.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chinese Medicinal Leech: Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacological Activities

Han

Ren

Wang

et al. 2016

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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“…Notwithstanding that the documented use of leeches for medicinal purposes dates back over two millennia, emphasis on the utility of leeches in modern medicine is becoming more authoritative (Whitaker et al. ; Phillips and Siddall ; Min et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity and selective pressures of anticoagulants in three medicinal leeches (Hirudinida: Hirudinidae, Macrobdellidae)

Kvist

Min

Siddall

2013

Ecology and Evolution

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Although medicinal leeches have long been used as treatment for various ailments because of their potent anticoagulation factors, neither the full diversity of salivary components that inhibit coagulation, nor the evolutionary selection acting on them has been thoroughly investigated. Here, we constructed expressed sequence tag libraries from salivary glands of two species of medicinal hirudinoid leeches, Hirudo verbana and Aliolimnatis fenestrata, and identified anticoagulant-orthologs through BLASTx searches. The data set then was augmented by the addition of a previously constructed EST library from the macrobdelloid leech Macrobdella decora. The identified orthologs then were compared and contrasted with well-characterized anticoagulants from a variety of leeches with different feeding habits, including non-sanguivorous species. Moreover, four different statistical methods for predicting signatures of positive and negative evolutionary pressures were used for 10 rounds each to assess the level and type of selection acting on the molecules as a whole and on specific sites. In total, sequences showing putative BLASTx-orthology with five and three anticoagulant-families were recovered in the A. fenestrata and H. verbana EST libraries respectively. Selection pressure analyses predicted high levels of purifying selection across the anticoagulant diversity, although a few isolated sites showed signatures of positive selection. This study represents a first attempt at mapping the anticoagulant repertoires in a comparative fashion across several leech families.

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“…1) and have been described repeatedly in the literature (Nesemann and Neubert 1999;Trontelj et al 2004;De Salle et al 2005;Kutschera 2004Kutschera , 2006Kutschera , 2007Kutschera , 2012aKutschera , 2012bSiddall et al 2007;Phillips and Siddall 2009;Elliott and Kutschera 2011), Hirudo medicinalis is still confused with H. verbana and other leech species. For instance, Reece et al (2011) depicted an adult H. verbana, but labelled the individual as "H. medicinalis".…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These two closely related leech species, which diverged ca. 10 million years ago from a common ancestor, were confused or both labelled as "Hirudo medicinalis", until a close examination of their morphology, combined with breeding studies and DNA-sequencing experiments, yielded unequivocal proof that they are distinct, reproductively isolated taxa (Nesemann and Neubert 1999;Trontelj et al 2004;De Salle et al 2005;Kutschera 2004;2006, 2007, 2012a, 2012bSiddall et al 2007;Phillips and Siddall 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The European medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis L.: Morphology and occurrence of an endangered species

Kutschera¹,

Elliott²

2014

ZSE

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Although the European medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis L. 1758) is one of the bestknown members of the Hirudinea due to its use in phlebotomy, this species has been confused with the Mediterranean taxon H. verbana Carena 1820. Here we describe the morphology of adult and juvenile H. medicinalis and document its genetic distance to H. verbana, using newly acquired mitochondrial DNA-sequence (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, CO-I)-data from specimens collected in Germany. Our CO-I analysis shows that H. medicinalis and H. verbana differ by 9.4 %. Hence, the original Hirudo-population diverged ca. 10 million years ago so that today two geographically separated biospecies exist that co-occur in only a few natural habitats. We analyzed the behaviour of adult H. medicinalis, but could not find differences with respect to its sister taxon H. verbana. Finally, we summarize the occurrence of H. medicinalis in Central Europe and conclude that this once widely distributed freshwater species largely disappeared in many countries. We suggest that the loss of natural freshwater ecosystems, with flat, warm banks, and amphibians (frogs, newts and toads) as preferred host organisms for the juveniles, are largely responsible for the decline of H. medicinalis in Northern Europe.

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Poly-paraphyly of Hirudinidae: many lineages of medicinal leeches

Cited by 91 publications

References 30 publications

Chinese Medicinal Leech: Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacological Activities

Chinese Medicinal Leech: Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacological Activities

Diversity and selective pressures of anticoagulants in three medicinal leeches (Hirudinida: Hirudinidae, Macrobdellidae)

The European medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis L.: Morphology and occurrence of an endangered species

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