中药水蛭具有较强的活血化瘀作用，为眼病破血逐瘀之要药。水蛭在眼科中常应用于年龄相关性黄斑变性、糖尿病性视网膜病变、白内障、视网膜静脉阻塞等疾病，其作用机制可能与抗血管内皮生长因子、改善微循环以及抗细胞凋亡等有关。此外，在基础研究方面还发现水蛭提取液具有使细胞转分化的功能，对人视网膜母细胞瘤细胞有抑制作用，具体分子机制尚待进一步验证。本文综述了水蛭及其提取液在眼科疾病中的应用和研究现状，为水蛭及其提取液治疗眼病的进一步研究提供更多提示。

Hirudo is highly effective in promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, a vital medicine for breaking blood and removing blood stasis in ophthalmopathy. Presently, Hirudo is commonly used in ophthalmology for age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, cataract, retinal vein occlusion and other ophthalmic diseases, with the mechanism thereof possibly being related to anti-VEGF, improvement of microcirculation and anti-apoptosis. Further, although new functions have been found in Hirudo extract, such as transdifferentiation and inhibition of WERI-RB-1, these studies remain in the basic exploratory stage, and the specific molecular mechanism requires further verification. This paper concisely describes the application and research status of Hirudo and the extract thereof in ophthalmic diseases, so as to provide a new direction for further research on the treatment of ophthalmopathy using Hirudo and the extract thereof.

四川省国际科技创新合作/港澳台科技创新合作项目(No.2019YFH0117)