China
Africa
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Coronary Artery Disease
Published in Stephen T. Sinatra, Mark C. Houston, Nutritional and Integrative Strategies in Cardiovascular Medicine, 2022
Lumbrokinase developed in Asia comes from the extract of earthworm, a traditional source of healing in both Japan and China.31 I first came across lumbrokinase more than a decade ago, after I realized that increasing blood levels of Lp(a) was perhaps the most significant risk factor in coronary artery disease. I was lecturing at a conference in Canada when a naturopath approached me, asking if I have ever used lumbrokinase before. He gave me some literature and samples. The positive impact it had in reducing some of my patients’ Lp(a) numbers was noteworthy, and many of my patients who were riddled with coronary artery disease felt better on lumbrokinase.
Fibrinolytic Enzymes for Thrombolytic Therapy
Published in Peter Grunwald, Pharmaceutical Biocatalysis, 2019
Swaroop S. Kumar, Sabu Abdulhameed
The major advantage of treatment using fibrinolytic enzymes over anticoagulants and antiplatelets is that they could act upon an existing clot. The primary focus of these enzymatic actions is on the protein (fibrin) either directly or indirectly. They are often called clot busting enzymes and categorized into two types based on the mechanism of action. The first category is plasminogen activators; converting plasminogen to active plasmin that cleaves the fibrin clot formed, e.g. tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and urokinase. They are widely used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. t-PA was approved in 1996 by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for intravenous injection against thrombosis. Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator alteplase (Activase®) against cardiovascular diseases is the first genetically engineered enzyme to get approved by the USFDA. Many plasminogen activators such as alteplase, reteplase, tenecteplase, urokinase, streptokinase, and anistreplase are available for clinical use and have been commonly used in treating cardiovascular diseases for the past five to six decades (Kotb, 2014). The second category of thrombolytic enzyme is plasmin-like enzymes that are direct-acting fibrinolytic enzymes which do not require the activation of plasminogen. Instead, they can perform clot dissolution by acting upon it, e.g., plasmin, nattokinase, and lumbrokinase.
Common Medicines from Herbs, Minerals and Animal Sources
Published in Mehwish Iqbal, Complementary and Alternative Medicinal Approaches for Enhancing Immunity, 2023
The earthworm is enriched with nutrients and macromolecules and has long been consumed as an edible among different indigenous cultures (Cooper et al., 2012). Earthworms' medicinal and nutritional value has been used for hundreds of years among complementary and traditional practices such as Kampo, Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine and Korean medicine, from which contemporary knowledge of the medicinal properties of earthworms comes. Earthworm and its products show anti-inflammatory properties and pledge to manage coagulation-related diseases in humans (Cooper, 2014; Cooper et al., 2012). Their capacity to revitalise lost projections has further prompted research in its utilisations in mammals, particularly by increasing the capacity of regeneration to revitalise the damaged nerves. The medicinal and nutritional benefits of earthworms and their influence on chronic conditions in humans are closely bound to understanding innate immunity development (Cooper & Hirabayashi, 2013). The innate immunity of earthworms has currently been investigated by means of profiling genes of earthworm's leukocytes which play a considerable role in immunity. Investigations of demonstrated sequence tags give rise to recognition of cell defence and immune-associated genes, giving beneficial knowledge for future research that emphasises the immune systems of earthworms (Tak et al., 2015). Constituents originating from earthworms have the power to give innovative management for diseases like thrombosis. For instance, analysis of earthworm constituent lumbrokinase has demonstrated its efficiency as powerful management of blood clots, with the detoxification of an individual lumbrokinase enhancing its antithrombotic effects and sequentially making the general utilisation of lumbrokinase better (Li et al., 2012).
Effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dilong Injection, on Random Skin Flap Survival in Rats
Published in Journal of Investigative Surgery, 2018
Lina Xu, Dingsheng Lin, Bin Cao, Dongnan Ping
Dilong injection is a medicinal preparation based on abdominal extracted from earthworm. It is used in traditional Chinese medicine for activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis [5, 6]. Injection Dilong comprises a potent fibrinolytic enzyme called lumbrokinase, which has been investigated as an experimental antithrombotic agent and has a very strong fibrinolysis activity [7]. Injection Dilong has strong effects on scavenging free radicals in vitro or strong inhibitory effects on lipidosomeantioxidation [8]. Consequently, Dilong injection shows antithrombotic and anti-inflammation actions. Nevertheless, it is unknown whether Dilong injection promotes flap survival. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential effect of Dilong injection on random skin flap survival and explore its mechanism.
Targeted thrombolysis by using c-RGD-modified N,N,N-Trimethyl Chitosan nanoparticles loaded with lumbrokinase
Published in Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, 2019
Jie Liao, Xiaoting Ren, Bowen Yang, Hou Li, Yuexin Zhang, Zongning Yin
Lumbrokinase (LK) is a group of serine proteases with strong fibrinolytic and thrombolytic activities [10] since they can directly dissolve fibrin or activate profibrinolysin to indirectly dissolve fibrin. Compared with urokinase and streptokinase, lumbrokinase is relatively stable over a broad range of pH and resists thermal denaturation, and it can even be administered orally [11–13]. However, thrombotic diseases are acute whose progression requires immediate drug bioavailability that can be matched almost only through injection [14].