Blood Relatives: Linking Evolutionary History and Conservation of Medicinal Leeches (<i>Hirudo</i> spp.). [PDF]
Evol ApplABSTRACT Medicinal leeches of the genus Hirudo are both historically important in medicine and increasingly studied as models in ecology and biomedicine. However, the taxonomy, population structure and evolutionary history of this genus remain partially unresolved.
Lombardo G +10 more
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Activity-Dependent Modulation of Tonic GABA Currents by Endocannabinoids in Hirudo verbana. [PDF]
Front Synaptic Neurosci, 2022 Endocannabinoids are lipid neuromodulators that are synthesized on demand and primarily signal in a retrograde manner to elicit depression of excitatory and inhibitory synapses.
Paulsen RT, Burrell BD.
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Scanning behavior in the medicinal leech Hirudo verbana. [PDF]
PLoS One, 2014 While moving through their environment, medicinal leeches stop periodically and wave their head or body back and forth. This activity has been previously described as two separate behaviors: one called 'head movement' and another called 'body waving ...
Harley CM, Wagenaar DA.
europepmc +5 more sources
Predictive Distribution Modeling of the Medicinal Leech <i>Hirudo verbana</i> Carena, 1820 (Hirudinea, Hirudinidae) in Sicily: Implications for Conservation. [PDF]
Ecol EvolA predictive distribution model for Hirudo verbana in Sicily was developed using 1980–2024 occurrence data and environmental variables. The species is associated with densely vegetated, high‐elevation lentic habitats and avoids human‐disturbed areas.
Liuzzo M, Utevsky S, Marrone F.
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Bacterial symbioses of the medicinal leech Hirudo verbana [PDF]
Gut Microbes, 2012 Gastrointestinal microbiomes play important roles in the health and nutrition of animals and humans. The medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana, serves as a powerful model for the study of microbial symbioses of the gut, due to its naturally limited microbiome compared with other popular models, the ability to cultivate the most abundant microbes, and ...
Joerg Graf, Michael C Nelson
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Signal analysis of whole-body shortening behavior in Hirudo verbana [PDF]
BMC Neurosci, 2012 The European medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana, is a complex predator with a substantial repertoire of behaviors, most of which can be observed in the isolated nerve cord as “fictive” motor patterns. Each of the 21 midbody segmental ganglia of ~400 neurons is highly iterated and controls an individual body segment. Propagating behaviors (such as swimming,
Migliori B, Palmer C, Kristan W.
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<i>Hirudo verbana</i> Microbiota Dynamics: A Key Factor in Hirudotherapy-Related Infections? [PDF]
MicroorganismsThe gastrointestinal microbiota of medicinal leeches is particularly interesting due to their blood-feeding habits, increasing medical use, and risk of pathogen transmission.
Karasartova D +4 more
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The Faraday Scalpel: Electrochemical Nerve Lesioning Mechanisms Studied in Invertebrate Models. [PDF]
Adv Sci (Weinh)Direct‐current produces nerve lesioning through discrete electrochemical reactions. Using hypoxia‐sensitive locust nerves and hypoxia‐tolerant leech nerves, we map three injury pathways: cathodic oxygen reduction, cathodic alkalization, and anodic chloride oxidation. These findings establish electrochemical lesioning—the “Faraday Scalpel”—as a precise,
Ondráčková P +5 more
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Evaluation of Methylene Blue as An Effective Antiseptic for Medicinal Leeches (Hirudo verbana)
Turkiye Parazitolojii DergisiObjective: Medicinal leeches (Hirudo spp.) have been used for therapeutic purposes in humans since ancient times. Because of their growth conditions, leeches carry certain bacteria and endosymbionts (e.g., Aeromonas spp).
Naim Saglam +2 more
exaly +5 more sources
Characterization of a monoacylglycerol lipase in the medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana. [PDF]
Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol, 2020 Endocannabinoids are a class of lipid neuromodulators found throughout the animal kingdom. Among the endocannabinoids, 2-arachydonoyl glycerol (2-AG) is the most prevalent endocannabinoid and monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) is a serine hydrolase primarily responsible for metabolizing 2-AG in mammals. In the medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana, 2-AG has been
Kabeiseman E, Paulsen R, Burrell BD.
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