The efficacy and function of leech control

Many people feel creepy when they hear about leeches, because leeches have another name called locusts. Most leeches will not come out until they have drunk enough blood once they have attached themselves to the human body, so many people are afraid of leeches. In fact, water quality is also a good Chinese medicinal material. People can catch leeches, wash them, and dry them before using them as medicine. So what are the effects and functions of leeches?

1. Effect on cardiovascular function: Intraperitoneal injection of 30 g/kg of hirudin can significantly increase the ability of mouse myocardium to absorb 86Rb, indicating that it has the effect of increasing myocardial nutrient blood flow.

2. Anti-early pregnancy effect: It has the effect of terminating pregnancy in all stages, including implantation and early, middle and late stages, but it is most effective for early pregnancy; if exogenous progesterone is injected with leeches at the same time, it can counteract the anti-early pregnancy effect of leeches.

3. Anticoagulant effect: It has a significant inhibitory effect on ADP-induced platelet aggregation, and can reduce the relative viscosity of whole blood and plasma, and shorten the red blood cell electrophoresis time; hirudin has a preventive effect on thrombosis caused by bacterial endotoxins and can reduce the mortality rate; hirudin can also enhance the contractility of isolated frog hearts caused by antithrombin. In vitro tests showed that leech water extract 200mg/ml, 100mg/ml and 50mg/ml also had a significant inhibitory effect on healthy human platelet aggregation after intragastric administration of 0.45g/kg leech water extract 4h after intragastric administration and continuously for 7 days. Hirudin is a thrombin inhibitor, with each milligram of hirudin containing 10 to 400 antithrombin units of activity;

4. Improve microcirculation: absorb hematoma of acute cerebral hemorrhage, reduce inflammation and edema around brain tissue, relieve increased intracranial pressure, improve local circulation, and facilitate the recovery of neurological function; it also promotes the absorption of experimental hematoma in the ear.

5. Leeches have a significant effect on lowering cholesterol and triglycerides in experimental hyperlipidemia. Hirudin has an inhibitory effect on tumor cells and has a certain inhibitory effect on the growth of liver cancer. Because leeches have a high anticoagulant effect, they are beneficial for anticancer drugs and immune active cells to penetrate into cancer tissues and kill cancer cells.

6. Thrombolytic effect: Hirudin has the effect of resisting platelet aggregation and dissolving thrombus caused by thrombin. Hirudin is a methanol extract that activates the fibrinolytic system both in vitro and in vivo; the salivary gland secretions of leeches have a strong antithrombotic effect after intravenous injection into rats.