Hirudo medicinalis, Medicinal Leeches. Great Help to the Human Medicine. (13 Pics)

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Medicinal leeches are any of several species of leeches, but most commonly Hirudo medicinalis, the European medicinal leech.The general morphology of medicinal leeches follows that of most other leeches. Fully mature adults can be up to 20 cm in length, and are green, brown, or greenish-brown with a darker tone on the dorsal side and a lighter ventral side. The dorsal side also has a thin red stripe.Medicinal leeches have been found to secrete saliva containing about 60 different proteins. These achieve a wide variety of goals useful to the leech as it feeds, helping to keep the blood in liquid form and increasing blood flow in the affected area. Several of these secreted proteins serve as anticoagulants (such as hirudin), platelet aggregation inhibitors (most notably apyrase, collagenase, and calin), vasodilators, and proteinase inhibitors. It is also thought that the saliva contains an anesthetic,as leech bites are generally not painful.

from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirudo_medicinalis