Earthworm

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

• lumbrokinasea group of fibrinolytic serine proteases
• lumbritin
• collagen and lipidsthe oil of worms

Mechanism

The oil of earthworms rubbed on joints is an animal fat; the dried worm of Chinese medicine (dilong) is another matter, since its lumbrokinase dissolves fibrin in the laboratory and in animals, and it is given in China for stroke and thrombosis, with trials of uncertain quality. The old jaundice use has no basis.

Toxic dose

Safe; lumbrokinase can prolong bleeding.

Standing

Dilong is in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia; lumbrokinase is sold as a supplement, unapproved in the West.

• Mihara, H., et al. (1991). “A novel fibrinolytic enzyme extracted from the earthworm, Lumbricus rubellus.” Japanese Journal of Physiology 41. Verified against its record · doi:10.2170/jjphysiol.41.461
• Cooper, E. L., and Balamurugan, M. (2010). “Unearthing a source of medicinal molecules.” Drug Discovery Today 15. Verified against its record · doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2010.09.004

The abstract of each source, beneath its citation. For Club members. About the Club or sign in.

Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.