Hirudin hirudin. Hirudin Hirudin is a naturally occurring peptide in the salivary glands of blood-sucking leeches (such as "Hirudo medicinalis") that has a blood anticoagulant property. This is fundamental for the leeches’ alimentary habit of hematophagy, since it keeps the blood flowing after the initial phlebotomy performed by the worm on the host’s skin. During his years in Birmingham and Edinburgh, John Berry Haycraft had been actively engaged in research and published papers on the coagulation of blood, and in 1884, he discovered that the leech secreted a powerful anticoagulant, which he named hirudin, although it was not isolated until the
Salivary diagnostics Salivary diagnostics Salivary diagnostics or Salivaomics is a procedure for testing and maintaining the data for diagnostic purposes. Saliva based hand-held sensors are used to detect and measure proteins and nucleic acids that are present in saliva for diagnosis. Salivary diagnostic technology is showing promise in the detection and monitoring malignancies at early stage and other various health concerns. The advantages of salivary diagnostics includes ease of collection, elimination of fear of needles, inexpensive testing and reduce risk of disease transmission between healthcare workers and patients. In addition, salivary diagnostic is fast, highly sensitive and specific, portable, user-friendly and can