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 by decreasing clotting time and increasing wound contraction. Saliva contains the enzyme amylase, which hydrolyses starch into maltose and dextrin. As a result, saliva allows digestion to occur before the food reaches the stomach. Saliva acts as a solvent in which solid particles can dissolve in and enter the taste buds through oral mucosa located on the tongue. These taste buds are found within foliate and circumvallate papillae, where minor salivary glands secrete saliva. A sialolithiasis (a salivary calculus or stone) may cause blockage of the ducts, most commonly the submandibular ducts, causing pain and swelling of the gland. Salivary