Saliva of hematophagous leeches (Hirudo sp.) contains bioactive proteins which allow the leech proper feeding and storage of ingested blood, but may also exert effects in the host. Leech therapy is used to treat many different ailments in humans, although only a small fraction of salivary proteins are characterized yet. Moreover, we do not know whether complete transfer of salivary proteins sto...

BACKGROUND Leech therapy was commonly used in traditional medicine for treating localized pain. Clinically significant pain relief after leech therapy for osteoarthritis of the knee has been demonstrated by preliminary data. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of leech therapy for symptomatic relief of osteoarthritis of the knee. DESIGN Randomized, controlled trial. SETTING Outpatient...

This paper describes an automatic system for the analysis and classification of leech behavior. Three colored beads were attached to the dorsal side of a free moving or pinned leech, and color CCD camera images were taken of the animal. The leech was restrained to moving in a small tank or petri dish, where the water level can be varied. An automatic system based on color processing tracked the...

purpose : to report a case of adult ocular leech infestation case report : a 67-year-old male presented to the emergency department of farabi eye hospital with the complaint of bloody tear. slitlamp biomicroscopy of left eye revealed bloody lashes, bloody tear and a large black green foreign body attached to the inferotemporal bulbar conjunctiva. one cc of lidocaine 2% was injected directly to ...