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

ABSTRACT: The European medicinal leech is one of vanishingly few animal species with direct application in modern medicine. In addition to the therapeutic potential held by many protease inhibitors purified from leech saliva, and notwithstanding the historical association with quackery, Hirudo medicinalis has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration as a prescription medical device. Accurate annotation of bioactive compounds relies on precise species determination. Interpretations of developmental and neurophysiological characteristics also presuppose uniformity within a model species used in laboratory settings. Here, we show, with mitochondrial sequences and nuclear microsatellites, that there are at least three species of European medicinal leech, and that leeches marketed

SUBMITTER: Siddall ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2176162 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature