EFFECTS OF AESTIVATION AND STARVATION ON THE NEUTRAL LIPID AND PHOSPHOLIPID CONTENT OF BIOMPHALARIA GLABRATA INFECTED WITH SCHISTOSOMA MANSONI

Abstract

The effects of aestivation or starvation on the neutral lipid and phospholipid content of Biomphalaria glabrata patently infected with Schistosoma mansoni were determined by high-performance thin-layer chromatography-densitometry. Infected-aestivated snails were maintained in a moist chamber at 24 +/- 1 C and a relative humidity of 98 +/- 1%. Infected-starved snails were maintained in artificial spring water (ASW) at 23 +/- 1 C without exogenous food. Infected snails (the controls) were maintained in ASW at 23 +/- 1 C and fed lettuce ad libitum. The 3 groups were maintained in the laboratory for 7 days, and then the lipids from the digestive gland-gonad complex (DGG) were extracted and analyzed by class. Infected-aestivated snails exhibited greater mortality rate and weight loss after 7 days than did the infected-starved snails. The steryl ester concentration in the infected-starved snails was significantly increased (P = 0.010) compared with the controls but not compared with infected-aestivated snails; the concentration of phosphatidylcholine in infected-aestivated snails was significantly decreased (P = 0.007) compared with the controls but not when compared with the infected-starved snails. Aestivation or starvation had a significant effect on the concentration of certain lipid classes in the DGG of B. glabrata infected with S. mansoni.