Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology Volume 2011, Article ID 519652, 7 pages doi:10.1155/2011/519652 Research Article DLBS1033, A Protein Extract from Lumbricus rubellus, Possesses Antithrombotic and Thrombolytic Activities Jessica Trisina, 1 Febrina Sunardi, 1 Maggy T. Suhartono, 1, 2 and Raymond R. Tjandrawinata 1 1 Division of Protein Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Dexa Laboratories of Biomolecular Sciences, PT Dexa Medica, Industri Selatan V Block PP no. 7, Kawasan Industri Jababeka II, Cikarang 17550, Indonesia 2 Department of Food Science and Technology, Bogor Agricultural University, Fateta Building Kampus IPB Darmaga, Bogor 16680, Indonesia Correspondence should be addressed to Raymond R. Tjandrawinata, raymond@dexa-medica.com Received 9 November 2010; Revised 17 December 2010; Accepted 15 January 2011 Academic Editor: Michael Kalafatis Copyright © 2011 Jessica Trisina et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The medicinal value of earthworm has been widely known since the history of Asian ancient medicine. This present study aims to determine the mechanism of action and effect of a standardized extract of Lumbricus rubellus named as DLBS1033. The fibrinogen degradation, antiplatelet aggregation, and ex vivo antithrombotic assay using human blood were performed to study antithrombotic activity. Fibrin plate and clot lysis assay were also done to examine thrombolytic properties. DLBS1033 was found to possess fibrinogenolytic activity on α-, β-, and γ-chain of fibrinogen. It also induced antiplatelet aggregation and prolonged blood clotting time, which further confirmed its antithrombotic properties. In addition, thrombolytic properties of DLBS1033 were shown with its fast and long-acting fibrinolytic activity, as well as its effective blood clot lysis activities. In conclusion, DLBS1033 conferred antithrombotic and thrombolytic action which could be used as a safe and promising oral thrombolytic drug. 1. Introduction For several years, earthworms have been widely used in Indonesia, China, Japan, and the Far East to treat vari- ous chronic diseases. Deep exploration has been made to reveal the use of earthworms as antimicrobial [1], anti- inflammatory [2], and anticancer [3] agents. In 1991, Mihara et al. found that the earthworm from Lumbricidae family could directly dissolve fibrin and activate plasminogen [4]. The active constituents of earthworm have been characterized and known to have fibrinolytic enzymes, a group of serine protease enzymes. Earthworm fibrinolytic enzymes (EFEs) are composed of several isozymes which can be transported into blood through intestinal epithelium [5–7]. It confers fibrinolytic and fibrinogenolytic properties, lowers blood viscosity, markedly reduces platelet aggrega- tion, and promotes thrombus degradation in blood [8– 10]. Due to those properties, earthworm fibrinolytic enzyme has been extensively studied as an oral thrombolytic drug [10, 11]. The most common sources of earthworm fibrinolytic enzymes are Lumbricus rubellus, Eisenia foetida, and Phere- tima sp. Each earthworm has different isozyme constituents depending on the species and living environment [12] that may lead to differences in their activities. Recently, research progress has been made using earthworm as one of its natural resources in developing medicines to treat thrombosis- related diseases. It is one of the most widely occurring diseases in modern life, which often cause disability and death. This present study was intended to explore the characterization, activity, and mechanism of actions of DLBS1033, earthworm extract prepared from Lumbricus rubellus originated from Indonesia, with regards to its antithrombotic and thrombolytic activities as a promising therapeutic agent for thrombosis-associated diseases. 2. Materials and Methods DLBS1033 was prepared in Dexa Laboratories of Biomolec- ular Sciences (Cikarang, Indonesia). Lumbricus rubellus