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 gland These drain into ducts situated between the lobes of the gland (called interlobar ducts or secretory ducts). These are found on most major and minor glands (exception may be the sublingual gland). All of the human salivary glands terminate in the mouth, where the saliva proceeds to aid in digestion. The saliva that salivary glands release is quickly inactivated in the stomach by the acid that is present, however saliva also contains enzymes that are actually activated by stomach acid. About 20,000 protein coding genes are expressed in human cells and 60% of these genes are expressed in normal, adult