[Cytochemical study of the different stages in the life cycle of Toxoplasma gondii. IX. The polysaccharides and lipids in the parasites at developmental stages from the cat intestine].

Amylopectin was detected in all the stages examined. In the oval stages the minute granules of PAS-positive material were seen in the cytoplasm when examined on fresh-frozen sections. In merozoites, amylopectin was more conspicuous with maturation. The residual body of microgametocytes contain large amounts of amylopectin; no polysaccharide was visualized in microgamete bodies. Amylopectin was most abundant in macrogametocytes and zygotes. However, no peripheral position of PAS-positive "plastic granules" (wall-forming bodies), so characteristic of other coccidia and revealed by the electron microscopy for T. gondii macrogametocytes, was seen. Acid mucopolysaccharides in the macrogametocyte were detected in the central zone, leaving the periphery of the cell unstained. Very small, if any, amounts of lipids were detected in asexual stages of T. gondii. Unlike, large accumulation of lipid droplets were seen in growing macrogametocytes suggesting the involvement of lipids along with amylopectin in the metabolism of oocysts later discharged from the host body.