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Validation of Medicinal Leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) as a Non-invasive Blood Sampling Tool for Hematology and Biochemistry Profiling in Mammals

Blood sampling is a challenging procedure in many captive animals. Although manual restraint or anesthesia are usually possible, they entail intense stress and a high risk of injuries or organ failure. Blood sampling using medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) represents a promising non-invasive al...

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Autores principales: Kvapil, Pavel, Tomášek, Oldřich, Bártová, Eva, Harej, Mojca, Kastelic, Marjan, Primožič, Tit, Kašpárková, Nikola, Račnik, Jožko
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8855102/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35187150
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.831836
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author Kvapil, Pavel
Tomášek, Oldřich
Bártová, Eva
Harej, Mojca
Kastelic, Marjan
Primožič, Tit
Kašpárková, Nikola
Račnik, Jožko
author_facet Kvapil, Pavel
Tomášek, Oldřich
Bártová, Eva
Harej, Mojca
Kastelic, Marjan
Primožič, Tit
Kašpárková, Nikola
Račnik, Jožko
author_sort Kvapil, Pavel
collection PubMed
description Blood sampling is a challenging procedure in many captive animals. Although manual restraint or anesthesia are usually possible, they entail intense stress and a high risk of injuries or organ failure. Blood sampling using medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) represents a promising non-invasive alternative to venipuncture; however, leech blood meal was to date used only for qualitative analyses such as genetic or serological screenings. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of the leech blood sampling method for quantification of hematological and biochemical parameters. Medicinal leeches were manually applied on 67 zoo animals of eleven species, and control blood samples were obtained by venipuncture of the jugular vein. The leeches drew up to 20 ml of blood in 20 to 55 min. Although most hematological and biochemical parameters were significantly altered in leech-derived samples, their values showed strong (r = 0.62–0.79; 10/24 parameters) to very strong (r > 0.8; 13/24 parameters) correlations with venipuncture in all blood parameters, except for sodium (r = 0.39). As the parameter alterations and correlations were similar among species, simple cross-species regression formulas were sufficient to correct the alterations, thereby ensuring good repeatability between leeches and venipuncture in most parameters. Our data thus suggest that medicinal leeches can be used as a reliable non-invasive and stress-reducing alternative to standard venipuncture, even for quantitative assays. This opens new opportunities for a significant improvement to animal welfare in zoological gardens, conservation programmes, and ecophysiological research, where quantification of blood parameters is often needed.
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spelling pubmed-88551022022-02-19 Validation of Medicinal Leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) as a Non-invasive Blood Sampling Tool for Hematology and Biochemistry Profiling in Mammals Kvapil, Pavel Tomášek, Oldřich Bártová, Eva Harej, Mojca Kastelic, Marjan Primožič, Tit Kašpárková, Nikola Račnik, Jožko Front Vet Sci Veterinary Science Blood sampling is a challenging procedure in many captive animals. Although manual restraint or anesthesia are usually possible, they entail intense stress and a high risk of injuries or organ failure. Blood sampling using medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) represents a promising non-invasive alternative to venipuncture; however, leech blood meal was to date used only for qualitative analyses such as genetic or serological screenings. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of the leech blood sampling method for quantification of hematological and biochemical parameters. Medicinal leeches were manually applied on 67 zoo animals of eleven species, and control blood samples were obtained by venipuncture of the jugular vein. The leeches drew up to 20 ml of blood in 20 to 55 min. Although most hematological and biochemical parameters were significantly altered in leech-derived samples, their values showed strong (r = 0.62–0.79; 10/24 parameters) to very strong (r > 0.8; 13/24 parameters) correlations with venipuncture in all blood parameters, except for sodium (r = 0.39). As the parameter alterations and correlations were similar among species, simple cross-species regression formulas were sufficient to correct the alterations, thereby ensuring good repeatability between leeches and venipuncture in most parameters. Our data thus suggest that medicinal leeches can be used as a reliable non-invasive and stress-reducing alternative to standard venipuncture, even for quantitative assays. This opens new opportunities for a significant improvement to animal welfare in zoological gardens, conservation programmes, and ecophysiological research, where quantification of blood parameters is often needed. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-02-04 /pmc/articles/PMC8855102/ /pubmed/35187150 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.831836 Text en Copyright © 2022 Kvapil, Tomášek, Bártová, Harej, Kastelic, Primožič, Kašpárková and Račnik. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Veterinary Science
Kvapil, Pavel
Tomášek, Oldřich
Bártová, Eva
Harej, Mojca
Kastelic, Marjan
Primožič, Tit
Kašpárková, Nikola
Račnik, Jožko
Validation of Medicinal Leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) as a Non-invasive Blood Sampling Tool for Hematology and Biochemistry Profiling in Mammals
title Validation of Medicinal Leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) as a Non-invasive Blood Sampling Tool for Hematology and Biochemistry Profiling in Mammals
title_full Validation of Medicinal Leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) as a Non-invasive Blood Sampling Tool for Hematology and Biochemistry Profiling in Mammals
title_fullStr Validation of Medicinal Leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) as a Non-invasive Blood Sampling Tool for Hematology and Biochemistry Profiling in Mammals
title_full_unstemmed Validation of Medicinal Leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) as a Non-invasive Blood Sampling Tool for Hematology and Biochemistry Profiling in Mammals
title_short Validation of Medicinal Leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) as a Non-invasive Blood Sampling Tool for Hematology and Biochemistry Profiling in Mammals
title_sort validation of medicinal leeches (hirudo medicinalis) as a non-invasive blood sampling tool for hematology and biochemistry profiling in mammals
topic Veterinary Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8855102/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35187150
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.831836
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