The incorporation and utilization of radiolabelled lipids by adult Schistosoma mansoni in vitro.

Live adult Schistosoma mansoni, maintained in vitro were able to absorb and utilize radiolabelled arachidonic acid, linolenic acid, 3-sn-phosphatidylcholine, tripalmitylglycerol and cholesterol in the culture medium. Differential centrifugation demonstrated that all these lipids were incorporated into the parasite's various membrane structures. Analysis by thin-layer chromatography of the labelled compounds which resulted from incubation with the labelled lipids revealed that arachidonic acid, linolenic acid and fatty acids of tripalmitylglycerol and 3-sn-phosphatidylcholine were present largely as triacylglycerol with smaller amounts of labelled diacylglycerol, phospholipids and fatty acids. The labelled polar head group of 3-sn-phosphatidylcholine was cleaved from the molecule during incorporation, which suggested that hydrolysis of complex lipids is an integral part of the absorption mechanism. Cholesterol was not apparently altered during incorporation or further metabolized. It was also observed that arachidonic acid was incorporated more readily than the other lipids, however, no prostaglandin biosynthesis was detected.