Karasartova Djursun, Arslan-Akveran Gonul, Sensoz Sabiha, Mumcuoglu Kosta Y, Taylan-Ozkan Aysegul
Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hitit University, 19030 Corum, Turkey.
Department of Food Processing, Alaca Avni Celik Vocational School, Hitit University, 19040 Corum, Turkey.
Microorganisms. 2025 Apr 16;13(4):918. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13040918.
The gastrointestinal microbiota of medicinal leeches is particularly interesting due to their blood-feeding habits, increasing medical use, and risk of pathogen transmission. Three groups of were used to study the leech microbiota: farmed leeches fasting for a long time, farmed leeches recently fed with bovine blood, and wild specimens fed with amphibian blood. The microbiota of the leeches' mouth, pharynx, crop, and intestine was analyzed. Metasequencing analyses were performed using amplification of the 16S rRNA V3-V4 region on a NovaSeq Illumina platform. The relative abundance of bacterial microbiota included environmental bacteria from the families Rhizobiaceae, Comamonadaceae, Sphingobacteriaceae, Phreatobacteraceae, Myxococcaceae, Chitinophagaceae, Rhodospirillaceae, and Bdellovibrionaceae, as well as symbiotic/probiotic bacteria such as , , , Lactobacillales, and . Significant differences were found in the different regions of the digestive system among the three groups of leeches, and environmental bacteria were present in all groups to varying degrees. A negative correlation was found between the dominant environmental and the symbiotic/probiotic bacteria. In contrast, a positive correlation was found between environmental and symbiotic/probiotic bacteria, indicating their association with host factors. Microbiota diversity, abundance, and bacterial correlations may be influenced by factors such as the leech's fasting state, blood meal source, and environmental conditions. The identified opportunistic pathogens, such as , , and , identified for the first time in , should be taken into consideration when using this leech in hirudotherapy. Our results show that extensive screening for opportunistic and pathogenic agents should be performed on leeches intended for medical use. Long-fasting leeches and leeches cultured in specialized farms are recommended for hirudotherapy.
由于药用水蛭的吸血习性、不断增加的医学用途以及病原体传播风险，其胃肠道微生物群特别引人关注。使用三组水蛭来研究其微生物群：长期禁食的养殖水蛭、最近喂食牛血的养殖水蛭以及喂食两栖动物血的野生水蛭。分析了水蛭口腔、咽、嗉囊和肠道的微生物群。在Illumina NovaSeq平台上，通过扩增16S rRNA V3-V4区域进行宏测序分析。细菌微生物群的相对丰度包括来自根瘤菌科、丛毛单胞菌科、鞘脂杆菌科、嗜水菌科、粘球菌科、噬几丁质菌科、红螺菌科和蛭弧菌科的环境细菌，以及诸如……、……、……、乳杆菌目和……等共生/益生菌。在三组水蛭的消化系统不同区域发现了显著差异，并且所有组中均不同程度地存在环境细菌。优势环境细菌与共生/益生菌之间呈负相关。相反，环境细菌与共生/益生菌之间呈正相关，表明它们与宿主因素有关。微生物群的多样性、丰度和细菌相关性可能受水蛭的禁食状态、血餐来源和环境条件等因素影响。在水蛭疗法中使用这种水蛭时，应考虑首次在……中鉴定出的机会性病原体，如……、……和……。我们的结果表明，应对用于医疗的水蛭进行广泛的机会性和病原体筛查。推荐将长期禁食的水蛭和在专业养殖场养殖的水蛭用于水蛭疗法。
