An Abnormal Hirudo medicinalis

First Isolation of a Giant Virus from Wild Hirudo medicinalis Leech: Mimiviridae isolation in Hirudo medicinalis

Giant viruses and amoebae are common in freshwater, where they can coexist with other living multicellular organisms. We screened leeches from the species Hirudo medicinalis for giant viruses. We analyzed five H. medicinalis obtained from Tunisia (3) and France (2). The leeches were decontaminated and then dissected to remove internal parts for co-culture with Acanthamoeba polyphaga. The genome...

Hirudo Medicinalis and the plastic surgeon.

Medicinal leech therapy is an ancient craft that dates back to ancient Egypt and the beginnings of civilisation. The popularity of Hirudo Medicinalis has varied throughout history, reaching such a peak in Europe in the early 19th century that supplies were exhausted. During the latter half of the 19th century, their use fell out of favour, as they did not fit in with the emerging concepts of mo...

Cholinergic action on the heart of the leech, Hirudo medicinalis.

Experiments were performed to determine the role of acetylcholine (ACh) in neuromuscular transmission in the heart of the leech Hirudo medicinalis. Superfused or iontophoretically applied ACh rapidly depolarized both isolated heart muscle cells and muscle cells in isolated hearts in a dose-dependent manner. the depolarization was associated with a conductance increase of the muscle membrane tha...

Spontaneous Electrical Activity and Behavior in the Leech Hirudo Medicinalis

In the absence of external stimuli, animals explore the environment by performing irregular movements, but the neuronal mechanisms underlying this arrhythmic motion are largely unknown. In this paper, we studied the relationship between the spontaneous neuronal activity in the leech (Hirudo medicinalis) and its behavior. We analyzed the electrical activity of isolated ganglia, chains of two con...

Medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) attacking and killing adult amphibians