Diverse molecular data demonstrate that commercially available medicinal leeches are not Hirudo medicinalis.

Characterization of the Digestive Tract Microbiota of Hirudo orientalis ( Medicinal Leech ) and Antibiotic Resistance Profile SPECIAL TOPIC

408e Although blood letting and the use of leeches dates back to pharaonic Egypt,1 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only approved the use of Hirudo medicinalis as a medical device in 2004.2 Leeches are used by plastic,3–7 maxillofacial,8–10 and other surgeons11,12 to aid salvage of venously congested pedicled flaps,13,14 freetissue transfers,3,15–17 replanted digits,6,18–25 ears,26–32 lips...

Medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) attacking and killing adult amphibians

The Use of Leeches in Veterinary Medicine

The use of leeches as a highly efficient natural medicine treatment has experienced a resurgence in human therapy, particularly in German speaking countries and the US. The number of leech treatments in Germany has amounted to about 100.000 per year. In addition to the return of diverse applications of medicinal leeches for human treatment, the leech (Hirudo medicinalis/verbana/orientalis) has ...

Identifying the most suitable species of Iranian medical leeches for commercialization its reproduction and breeding.

This study aimed to identify the most suitable species of Iranian medical leeches for aquaculture through a comparative study of growth, survival and reproduction of Hirudo medicinalis and Hirudo orientalis, which are native to the southern shores of the Caspian Sea and do not have sufficient information about their biology. Medicinalis growth was significantly faster (p<0.05) until the fifth m...

Hirudotherapy in veterinary medicine.

The saliva of medicinal leeches, e.g., Hirudo medicinalis and Hirudo verbana commonly used in hirudotherapy, contains more than 100 bioactive substances with various therapeutic effects, including anticoagulant, vasodilator, thrombolytic, anti-inflammatory and anaesthetic properties. Recently, leeches have been used very successfully in veterinary medicine to treat many diseases of animals, esp...