Identification of a New Species of the Medicinal Leeches in India using DNA Barcoding Technique - a Breakthrough

Leech therapy has always been an important treatment modality in Ayurveda. Medicinal leeches are known for their extensive therapeutic uses. Identification of leech species is an important research area to understand the mechanism of therapeutic gains and exploring more probable benefits. Researchers have done a swell job in identifying various species of leeches in different parts of Asia including India. For therapeutic purpose however, the clinicians in India have not bothered much about the exact identification of leech species being used at different centres. There is dearth of research papers in this aspect. Thus a study was planned to identify the species of leeches being used at our centre. Materials and methods: DNA Barcoding technique was used where mitochondrial CO1 gene was amplified using LCO-HCO primers. Results: DNA sequencing of Leech sample closely resembled to Hirudinaria Bpling species, which is a breakthrough in existing knowledge of medicinal leeches in India, as this species was recently reported to be found in Thailand in 2012 for the first time. No previous documentation of its existence is available in our country. Conclusion: Further studies on large scale are required to explore their existence, morphological features and salivary contents in regard to their medicinal value. This will help in exploring any additional benefits to the existing knowledge of therapeutic uses of medicinal leeches. This study will pave the path to new avenues in therapeutic utility of leeches, as the newer species might have additional bioactive chemicals making them useful in wider variety of disorders.