It is almost identical to hirudin extracted from Hirudo medicinalis.

Although physicians no longer bleed their patients, Hirudo medicinalis has been enjoying a renaissance.

Of the 400 or so kinds of leeches, only one, hirudo medicinalis, can be used for therapeutic purposes.

Hirudin and derivatives were originally discovered in Hirudo medicinalis:

There is Hirudo medicinalis in the stream indicating that that the stream has kept its ecological value.

The medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, and sea slug are classic model systems for studying nociception.

Hirudo (leeches)

But when a small European leech, Hirudo medicinalis, is attached, it sucks out an ounce or two of blood from the clogged vessels.

Only one species, however, is considered suitable for medicinal purposes: Hirudo Medicinalis, a freshwater leech once abundant in the lakes of Europe.

Hirudin is a naturally occurring peptide in the salivary glands of medicinal leeches (such as Hirudo medicinalis) that has a blood anticoagulant property.

Medicinal leeches are any of several species of leeches, but most commonly Hirudo medicinalis, the European medicinal leech.

In 1884 John Berry Haycraft described a substance found in the saliva of leeches, Hirudo medicinalis, that had anticoagulant effects.

The most well-known leech species, Hirudo medicinalis (European Medical Leech), belongs to the Arhynchobdellida.

In June 2004, the FDA cleared Hirudo medicinalis (Leeches) as the second living organism to be used as a medical devices.

But the biggest surprise came when Dr. Siddall applied the new techniques to the best-known leech of all, the European medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis.

Gnathobdela: In this order of "jawed" leeches, armed with teeth, is found the quintessential leech: the European medical (bloodsucking) leech, Hirudo medicinalis.

In Hirudo medicinalis, these supplementary factors are produced by an obligatory symbiotic relationship with two bacterial species, Aeromonas veronii and a still-uncharacterized Rikenella species.

Their most well-known member is the European Medical Leech, Hirudo medicinalis, and indeed most of the blood-sucking "worms" as which leeches are generally perceived belong to this group.

In 2004, the Food and Drug Administration approved Hirudo medicinalis as a medical device, and a number of companies do a brisk business importing them from Europe to the United States.

Dr. Charles Lent, a cellular neurobiologist at Utah State University in Logan, said last year that a European leech, Hirudo medicinalis L., was especially helpful after tissues had been transplanted or reattached.

Other Hirudo species sometimes used as medicinal leeches include (but are not limited to) Hirudo orientalis, Hirudo troctina, and Hirudo verbana.

In the 19th century medical demand for leeches was so high that some areas' stocks were exhausted and other regions imposed restrictions or bans on exports, and Hirudo medicinalis is treated as an endangered species by both IUCN and CITES.