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Journal of Ethnopharmacology Mar 2021Leeches (pinyin name Shui Zhi; Latin scientific name Hirudo; Hirudinea; Hirudinidae) and centipedes (pinyin name Wu Gong; Latin scientific name Scolopendridae;...
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE
Leeches (pinyin name Shui Zhi; Latin scientific name Hirudo; Hirudinea; Hirudinidae) and centipedes (pinyin name Wu Gong; Latin scientific name Scolopendridae; Chilopoda; Scolopendridae) are traditional Chinese medicines, and they belong to the family entomology. A combination of leech and centipede is used as an effective medicine to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis in traditional Chinese medicine, and "leech-centipede" medicine has been used in many prescriptions to treat diabetic vascular disease, including diabetic erectile dysfunction (DIED). However, its specific mechanism remains unclear and requires in-depth study.
AIM OF THE STUDY
This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of "leech-centipede" medicine to improve erectile dysfunction-associated diabetes by detecting PKC pathway-related molecules.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The active ingredients of "leech-centipede" medicine were identified using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Fifty male SPF rats were injected with streptozotocin to induce the DM model. Eight weeks later, the DMED model was validated with apomorphine. The DIED rats were divided into five groups-T,P,DD,DZ, and DG-and were separately treated with tadalafil, pathway inhibitor LY333531 and low-, medium-, and high-dose "leech-centipede" medicine for 8 weeks. After treatment, the blood glucose level was measured, erectile function with apomorphine was assessed, the LOX-1, sE-selectin, sICAM-1, SOD, and MDA in serum was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and flow cytometry was performed. After the collection of penile tissue, the related protein and mRNA expression was assessed by Western blotting and PCR, and the tissue and ultrastructure were analysed by HE staining, immunohistochemistry and scanning electron microscopy.
RESULTS
After treatment, the erectile function of rats was significantly improved in the T,P,DD,DZ, and DG groups compared with that in the model group. Thus, "leech-centipede" medicine can significantly reduce the levels of LOX-1, sE-selectin, sICAM-1, EMPs and CD62P to protect vascular endothelial function and anti-platelet activation, improving DIED rat erectile function. Additionally, "leech-centipede" medicine can increase SOD expression and decrease MDA expression, reducing the possibility of oxidative stress injury in DIED rats and improving the antioxidant capacity. Moreover, "leech-centipede" therapy can dramatically reduce the protein and mRNA expression of DAG, PKCβ, NF-κB, and ICAM-1, improve vascular endothelial injury in DIED rats and inhibit abnormal platelet activation.
CONCLUSION
"leech-centipede" medicine can improve erectile dysfunction by inhibiting the expression of PKC pathway-related molecules in DIED rats and protects endothelial function and anti-platelet activation.
Topics: Animals; Biomarkers; Chilopoda; Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinase Catalytic Subunits; Diabetes Complications; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental; Diglycerides; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1; Leeches; Male; Medicine, Chinese Traditional; NF-kappa B; Oxidative Stress; Penile Erection; Penis; Platelet Activation; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Recovery of Function; Signal Transduction; Streptozocin; Tissue Extracts; Rats
PubMed: 33049347
DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2020.113463 -
Pharmaceutical Biology Dec 2021The leech and centipede granules have good curative effects on many diabetic vascular diseases, including diabetes-induced erectile dysfunction (DIED).
CONTEXT
The leech and centipede granules have good curative effects on many diabetic vascular diseases, including diabetes-induced erectile dysfunction (DIED).
OBJECTIVE
To explore the effect of leech and centipede on erectile function in rats with diabetes-induced erectile dysfunction and its possible mechanism.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Thirty male Sprague-Dawley DIED rats were randomly divided into the model group (Group M), low-dose group (Group DD), high-dose group (Group DG) and tadalafil group (Group T) ( = 6); diabetic rats were induced by streptozotocin. Apomorphine was used to induce diabetic erectile dysfunction. The 'leech-centipede' granules (0.15 and 0.6 g/kg) were intragastrically administered in the DD and DG groups for 8 weeks. Blood glucose, serum insulin, testosterone, cGMP levels and protein expression changes were measured in each group.
RESULTS
After 8 weeks, the erectile function of rats in the DG group significantly improved (1.26 ± 0.73). Penis tissue cGMP levels were higher in the DG group (1.48 ± 0.11) than in the M group (0.58 ± 0.15). Protein and mRNA expression levels of NOS were significantly higher (0.77 ± 0.05; 0.61 ± 0.02) but those of PDE5 (0.43 ± 0.05; 0.61 ± 0.03) were lower in the DG group than in the M group (0.37 ± 0.06; 0.51 ± 0.01; 0.78 ± 0.06; 0.81 ± 0.04).
CONCLUSION
The leech-centipede can improve erectile dysfunction in DIED rats by regulating the expression of cGMP, NOS, and PDE5-related molecules in the PDE5 pathway. This study provides a potential mechanism for the treatment of DIED with leech-centipede.
Topics: Animals; Blood Glucose; Cyclic GMP; Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases, Type 5; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental; Erectile Dysfunction; Male; Nitric Oxide Synthase; Penile Erection; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Signal Transduction; Streptozocin; Tissue Extracts
PubMed: 33569974
DOI: 10.1080/13880209.2021.1878237 -
Cell Mar 2021The prevalence of type 2 diabetes and obesity has risen dramatically for decades and is expected to rise further, secondary to the growing aging, sedentary population.... (Review)
Review
The prevalence of type 2 diabetes and obesity has risen dramatically for decades and is expected to rise further, secondary to the growing aging, sedentary population. The strain on global health care is projected to be colossal. This review explores the latest work and emerging ideas related to genetic and environmental factors influencing metabolism. Translational research and clinical applications, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, are highlighted. Looking forward, strategies to personalize all aspects of prevention, management and care are necessary to improve health outcomes and reduce the impact of these metabolic diseases.
Topics: COVID-19; Circadian Rhythm; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Epigenesis, Genetic; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Humans; Inflammation; Obesity; Pandemics; Precision Medicine; Prevalence; Risk Factors; SARS-CoV-2; Thermotolerance
PubMed: 33675692
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.02.012 -
Alzheimer's & Dementia : the Journal of... Nov 2022Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) covers a spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders with different phenotypes, genetic backgrounds, and pathological states. Its... (Review)
Review
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) covers a spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders with different phenotypes, genetic backgrounds, and pathological states. Its clinicopathological diversity challenges the diagnostic process and the execution of clinical trials, calling for specific diagnostic biomarkers of pathologic FTD types. There is also a need for biomarkers that facilitate disease staging, quantification of severity, monitoring in clinics and observational studies, and for evaluation of target engagement and treatment response in clinical trials. This review discusses current FTD biofluid-based biomarker knowledge taking into account the differing applications. The limitations, knowledge gaps, and challenges for the development and implementation of such markers are also examined. Strategies to overcome these hurdles are proposed, including the technologies available, patient cohorts, and collaborative research initiatives. Access to robust and reliable biomarkers that define the exact underlying pathophysiological FTD process will meet the needs for specific diagnosis, disease quantitation, clinical monitoring, and treatment development.
Topics: Humans; Frontotemporal Dementia; Biomarkers; Neurodegenerative Diseases
PubMed: 35235699
DOI: 10.1002/alz.12643 -
Medical History Apr 2023Nineteenth-century physicians increasingly favoured leeching - the placing of a live leech onto a patient's skin to stimulate or limit blood flow - as a cure for...
Nineteenth-century physicians increasingly favoured leeching - the placing of a live leech onto a patient's skin to stimulate or limit blood flow - as a cure for numerous ailments. As conviction in their therapeutic properties spread, leech therapy dominated European medicine; France imported over fifty million leeches in one year. Demand soon outpaced supply, spawning a lucrative global trade. Over-collection and farming eventually destroyed leech habitats, wreaked environmental havoc and forced European merchants to seek new supply sources. Vast colonies of leeches were found to inhabit the immense wetlands of the Ottoman Empire, which soon became a major exporter of medicinal leeches. Following the Treaty of Balta Liman (1838), the Ottoman state moved to exert control over the lucrative trade, imposing a tax on leech gathering and contracting with tax-farmers () to collect the taxes. British diplomats, merchants and other stakeholders protested the imposition of the tax, as had previously happened with the commodification of wildlife; their pursuit of profit led collectors and farmers to over-gather leeches, with catastrophic consequences. By the end of the century, so great had their worth climbed that the leech population faced extinction. This paper situates medicinal leeches as therapeutic actors of history and adopts an interscale approach in formulating the human-leech interaction. It offers a substantive contribution to the history of medicine, in revealing the centrality of leeches to the rise of modern medicine and global trade, but also by making visible their role in shaping imperial diplomacy and worldwide economic markets.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Ottoman Empire; Leeching; Leeches; France
PubMed: 37525461
DOI: 10.1017/mdh.2023.17 -
Oman Journal of Ophthalmology 2021
PubMed: 34880588
DOI: 10.4103/ojo.ojo_129_21 -
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies Jan 2023The medicinal leech therapy (MLT) is a kind of complementary treatment method used for various diseases. The leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) have been used for more than...
BACKGROUND
The medicinal leech therapy (MLT) is a kind of complementary treatment method used for various diseases. The leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) have been used for more than 2500 years by surgeons. The substances presenting in the saliva of leeches have anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, platelet inhibitory, thrombin regulatory, analgesic, extracellular matrix degradative and antimicrobial effects. The method is cheap, easy to apply, effective and its mechanisms of action have been clarified for specific diseases. Infection particularly Aeromonas infection is the most common complication of MLT.
CASE PRESENTATION
In this case report, a keratitis case developing after leech therapy applied for the periocular and facial eczematous dermatitis lesions will be presented. The patient referred to our hospital with decreased vision, ocular pain, stinging, redness and lacrimation complaints. A large corneal epithelial defect with irregular margins, dying by fluorescein, involving more than inferior half of cornea and conjunctival hyperemia were seen in the right eye. No agent was determined in microbiological investigation, as the patient had used topical moxifloxacin eye drop which was commenced in another clinic before applying to us. The patient was treated with fortified vancomycin and ceftazidime, before using besifloxacin with the diagnosis of bacterial keratitis. Three weeks later epithelial defect improved completely leaving an opacity and neovascularization.
CONCLUSIONS
MLT should be performed by certified physicians with sterile medicinal leeches and precautious antibiotics should be used before MLT for prevention against potential infections.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Leeching; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Leeches; Keratitis; Eczema
PubMed: 36588163
DOI: 10.1186/s12906-022-03613-1 -
Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) Aug 2022A patient with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) underwent complex surgical tumor therapy, including the reconstruction of soft tissues using a radial forearm flap....
A patient with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) underwent complex surgical tumor therapy, including the reconstruction of soft tissues using a radial forearm flap. Due to venous congestion that could only partly be resolved by revision surgery, leech therapy was started on the second postoperative day. The patient developed pneumonia and sepsis and died as a result of septic shock, despite having received targeted broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy since day 5. spp. were cultured from both the patient's specimens and unused leeches. Biochemical identification and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) yielded inconsistent identification results. Finally, microbiological identification of spp. was performed via 16S rDNA sequencing and use of the basic local alignment search tool (BLAST), and strains from both the patient and the leeches were identified as . spp. strains derived from the patient and leeches and independent laboratory strains were submitted to randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) subtyping. RAPD of strains from both sources revealed an identical pattern, strongly suggesting the transmission of from the leeches to the patient. Physicians should be aware of the potential for severe lethal infections as a fatal side-effect of leech therapy in critically ill patients, which should be addressed using antibiotic prophylaxis.
PubMed: 36139958
DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11091180 -
Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative... 2022The superficial infection that involves the hair follicle with bogginess or induration of involved parts of the scalp along with pustules, erosions, crusts, ulcers, and...
INTRODUCTION
The superficial infection that involves the hair follicle with bogginess or induration of involved parts of the scalp along with pustules, erosions, crusts, ulcers, and scales resulting in hair fall is known as folliculitis decalvans (FD). This condition accounts for approximately 11% of all cases with primary cicatricial alopecia. Based on clinical features like Keshadhwansha (hair fall) with Harsha (hypersensitivity), Kandu (itching), Toda (pain), FD can be correlated with Raktaja Krimi Vikara (RKV).
OBSERVATION AND RESULTS
A 24 years' male patient with the chief complaint of patchy hair loss in the scalp region associated with scale formation, itching, and pain for 2 months. He had a history of pustules-like eruption over the frontal and parietal regions. He tried various topical and oral medications for 8 days but didn't get any sign of improvement and came to NIA hospital for Ayurveda treatment. Due to the signs like pustules over the scalp, hair loss with honey-colored crusting, scarring, mild itching, and pain; he was diagnosed with RKV ∼ FD. After treatment with Ayurveda medicine and leech therapy, complete remission of the scar, lesions, itching, pain, and hair loss was obtained, and there was new hair growth over the scalp with normal distribution. The patient was on follow-up for 33 months with no signs of itching, pain, and hair fall.
CONCLUSION
Complete remission of FD was achieved by Ayurveda medicine along with Jalaukavacharana and it seems highly effective on the basis of remission period compared to contemporary treatment modalities. It is suggested to have further clinical studies with large samples to analyze its effectiveness.
PubMed: 36436296
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaim.2022.100673 -
Cureus Feb 2020A 58-year-old male presented to the emergency department with a chief complaint of knee pain and swelling after performing hirudotherapy (leech therapy) approximately...
A 58-year-old male presented to the emergency department with a chief complaint of knee pain and swelling after performing hirudotherapy (leech therapy) approximately one week prior. Knee arthrocentesis demonstrated significant hemarthrosis. Hirudotherapy is being used for a broad array of reasons including treatment of osteoarthritis, to plastic and reconstructive surgery. Case reports and journal articles often discuss cutaneous reactions, bleeding, and infection as common adverse events. Intra-articular bleeding is not commonly mentioned. With hirudotherapy being utilized more as alternative therapy for osteoarthritis and joint pain, physicians should be aware of hemarthrosis as a possible adverse reaction.
PubMed: 32190470
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.6915