Abstract
The medicinal value of earthworm has been widely known since the history of Asian ancient medicine. This present study aims to determine the mechanism of action and effect of a standardized extract of Lumbricus rubellus named as DLBS1033. The fibrinogen degradation, antiplatelet aggregation, and ex vivo antithrombotic assay using human blood were performed to study antithrombotic activity. Fibrin plate and clot lysis assay were also done to examine thrombolytic properties. DLBS1033 was found to possess fibrinogenolytic activity on α-, β-, and γ-chain of fibrinogen. It also induced antiplatelet aggregation and prolonged blood clotting time, which further confirmed its antithrombotic properties. In addition, thrombolytic properties of DLBS1033 were shown with its fast and long-acting fibrinolytic activity, as well as its effective blood clot lysis activities. In conclusion, DLBS1033 conferred antithrombotic and thrombolytic action which could be used as a safe and promising oral thrombolytic drug.
Highlights
For several years, earthworms have been widely used in Indonesia, China, Japan, and the Far East to treat various chronic diseases
Earthworm fibrinolytic enzymes (EFEs) are composed of several isozymes which can be transported into blood through intestinal epithelium [5,6,7]
The fibrinogenolytic activity could be detected within 5 min (Figure 6). α- and γ-chain of fibrinogen had been completely degraded after 30 min, except for the slight β-chain that still remained until 90-min incubation
Summary
Earthworms have been widely used in Indonesia, China, Japan, and the Far East to treat various chronic diseases. Earthworm fibrinolytic enzymes (EFEs) are composed of several isozymes which can be transported into blood through intestinal epithelium [5,6,7]. It confers fibrinolytic and fibrinogenolytic properties, lowers blood viscosity, markedly reduces platelet aggregation, and promotes thrombus degradation in blood [8,9,10]. Due to those properties, earthworm fibrinolytic enzyme has been extensively studied as an oral thrombolytic drug [10, 11]
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