Although the ducks (Simuliidae) are small, humpbacked insects that drink blood and spread serious diseases such as river blindness, the substances they produce may be useful for medicinal purposes, reports PLoS One.
Animals that feed on blood – including leeches, ticks, mosquitoes, and vampire bats – must cope with blood clotting. They usually inject their saliva, which contains substances that reduce blood clotting and dilate blood vessels.
Professor Don Champagne, an entomologist at the University of Georgia (USA), while examining the naps, discovered two proteins that affect blood clotting. One of them blocks factor Xa, which is involved in the clotting process. Since factor Xa is part of a cascade of mutually activating factors, it is enough to block it and the blood stops clotting.
However, the nap protein also blocks some of the enzymes involved in very early immune responses – elastase and cathepsin G. These enzymes kill bacteria and stimulate immune responses. They can be useful in treating patients after a heart attack, preventing tissue damage.