• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.374-377
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• 1998

The freeze-dried powder of Lumbricus rubellus earthworm was administered orally to rats and its fibrinolytic and antithrombotic effects were investigated. The fibrinolytic activity of plasma was determined by measuring the plasmin activity of the euglobulin fraction and was increased to two-folds of the control at a dose of 0.5 g/kg/day and five times with 1 g/kg/day after 4-day administration. The antithrombotic effect was studied in an arterio-venous shunt model of rats. The thrombus weight decreased significantly from 43.2 mg to 32.4 mg at a dose of 0.5 g/kg/day after 8-day treatment. The level of fibrinogen/fibrin degradation product (FDP) in serum was elevated in a dose-dependent manner during the treatment period. On the 8th day after administration, the FDP value was increased to 7.7 $\mu\textrm{g}$g/ml compared with the control value of 3.3 $\mu\textrm{g}$g/ml. These results support that earthworm powder is valuable for the prevention and/or treatment of thrombotic conditions.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 1997

A saline suspension of Lumbricus rubellus earthworm powder (EWP) was administered to rats (1 g/kg/day) orally for 15 days to evaluate an oral effectiveness for thrombotic disorders. Blood was drawn at 2-day interval after the administration. Several parameters for antithrombotic, anticoagulant and fibrinolytic activities were measured, including platelet aggregation, clotting time, plasmin activity and the levels of FDP (fibrin/fibrinogen degradation products), D-dimer, and t-PA antigen. It did not affect platelet aggregation induced by ADP and collagen but anticoagulant activity (aPTT and TT) was gradually increased to two-folds for the first 5 days of administration and back to normal. Fibrinolytic activity of euglobulin fraction was highest on the 11 th day after the administration. The level of FDP was elevated to be comparable to the positve control$ (5-10 {\mu}g/ml)$ after 9-day treatment. Oral administration of the EWP could also reduce the formation of venous thrombus induced with viper venom. Complete blood count (CBC) profiles were within normal ranges except for a slight increase in white blood cells after the oral administration for 15 days. These results suggested that the EWP may be valuable for the prevention and/or treatment of thrombotic diseases.