Potential pharmacological use of salivary compounds from hematophagous organisms

Introduction: The saliva of hematophagous or blood-sucking insects contains different substances that allow obtaining and ingesting the blood of their vertebrate hosts without being detected.Objective: To explore the salivary compounds of hematophagous insects which have vasodilator, anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and anesthetic properties, and that can be exploited due to their high pharmacological potential.Materials and methods: A non-systematic literature review was done in PubMed, EMBASE, and ScienceDirect OvidSP; data was not limited by date, language nor item type. Articles on salivary compounds of blood-sucking insects, whose main topic was the effects on hemostasis, immunomodulation and drug use, were sought. 59 articles met the criteria for inclusion in the review.Conclusions: The saliva of hematophagous insects has a wide variety of molecules that constitute a source of research and have an incalculable potential for the discovery of compounds that could be pharmacologically useful.

• Autores: Velásquez, Juan José; Navarro-Vargas, José Ricardo; Moncada, Ligia
• Tipo de recurso: Article of journal
• Fecha de publicación: 2017
• Institución: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
• Repositorio: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
• Idioma: spa
• OAI Identifier: oai:repositorio.unal.edu.co:unal/65022
• Acceso en línea: https://repositorio.unal.edu.co/handle/unal/65022; http://bdigital.unal.edu.co/66045/
• Palabra clave: 61 Ciencias médicas; Medicina / Medicine and health; Saliva; Pharmacology; Anticoagulants; Vasodilators; Anti-inflammatory; Anesthetics; Saliva; Farmacología; Anticoagulantes; Vasodilatadores; Antiinflamatorios; Anestésicos
• Rights: openAccess
• License: Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional