Investigation of the in vitro effect of medicinal leech (hirudo verbana) salivary extract on pancreatic cancer (MIA PACA-2)

In this study, the in vitro effect of the secretory extract from the Hirudo verbana species medicinal leech on the pancreatic cancer cell line (MIA PaCa-2) was investigated. The secretion extract we obtained from the medicinal leech was kept at -80°C for 24 hours and then kept in the lyophilizer device for 48 hours and turned into powder. Firstly, total protein analysis was performed on the powdered secretion. A cell culture of the human pancreatic cancer cell line was prepared and the cells were counted on an automatic cell counting device. Cells were seeded on a 96-well plate. Medicinal leech secretion extracts were added to these cells at the dose rates of 75 µg/ml, 150 µg/ml, 300 µg/ml, 600 µg/ml and 1200 µg/ml, which we will use in our study. Cell viability was measured using the XTT device. IC50 values were calculated separately for the 24th, 48th and 72nd hours. The IC50 value at the 24th hour was calculated as 484.48 µg/ml, the IC50 value at the 48th hour was calculated as 330.92 µg/ml, and finally the IC50 value at the 72nd hour was calculated as 542.75 µg/ml. It has been observed that the effect of Hirudo verbana leech secretion on MIA PaCa-2 cell viability is not linear. While a weak antiproliferative effect of medicinal leech secretion extracts was observed on the pancreatic cancer cell line at doses below 600 µg/ml, a cytotoxic effect was observed at doses of 600 µg/ml and 1200 µg/ml.