Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T17:39:31.762Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Skin penetration by cercariae of the bird schistosome Austrobilharzia terrigalensis: the stimulatory effect of cholesterol

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

J. A. Clegg
J. A. Clegg
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

An artificial skin of hardened gelatine was used to examine the factors affecting penetration of skin by cercariae of the bird schistosome, Austrobilharzia terrigalensis.

The percentage of cercariae able to penetrate through a gelatine membrane was increased by a factor of 3–4 by coating the membrane with a thin layer of lipid collected from the surface of chicken skin.

The free sterol fraction, isolated from chicken skin surface lipid by thin-layer chromatography, stimulated penetration to the same extent as whole skin lipid.

Cholesterol was detected in the sterol fraction by mass spectrometry and pure cholesterol had the full stimulating effect on cercarial penetration.

Skin lipid, from which free sterols had been removed, lost the stimulatory effect on cercariae, but full activity was recovered by adding cholesterol to the sterol-free lipid. Fractions of skin lipid containing free fatty acids or triglycerides, wax esters and sterol esters similarly failed to stimulate penetration.

These results establish that penetration of A. terrigalensis cercariae is greatly stimulated by the free sterols present in the surface lipid of chicken skin but cholesterol may not be the only active sterol. Cholestanol and the plant sterols campesterol and β-sitosterol were also detected in chicken skin surface lipid. These sterols were not tested for activity on cercariae because samples free from cholesterol could not be obtained.

Some cercariae were able to penetrate plain gelatine membranes not coated with cholesterol but small amounts of free sterol were detected in the gelatine itself. This sterol could not be completely removed by prolonged solvent extraction and consequently it is not known whether any cercariae are able to penetrate in the complete absence of sterols.

Temperature had a marked effect on penetration of cercariae; lowering the temperature from 40 to 25 °C reduced the number of successful penetrants by a factor of 4.

I am grateful to Miss V. Bowen for excellent technical assistance and to Dr J. McLeod of the Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, who performed and interpreted the mass spectrometry. This investigation was partly supported by a research grant from the World Health Organization.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 59 , Issue 4 , November 1969 , pp. 973 - 989
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1969

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Boehle, E., Harmuth, E. & Rajewsky, M. (1964). Resorption of plant sterols in men. Z. klin. Chem. 2, 105–14.Google Scholar
Bolwig, N. (1955). An experimental study of the behaviour and host-recognition in Schistosoma cercariae. S. Afr. J. Sci. 51, 338–44.Google Scholar
Boughton, B. & Wheatley, V. R. (1959). Studies of sebum. 9. Further studies of the composition of the unsaponifiable matter of human forearm-sebum. Biochem. J. 73, 144–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cahn, R. D. (1967). Detergents in membrane filters. Science, N.Y 155, 195–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gustavson, K. H. (1956). The Chemistry of Tanning Processes. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Haahti, E., Lagerspetz, K., Nikkari, T. & Fales, H. M. (1964). Lipids of the uropygial gland of birds. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 12, 435–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewert, R. M., Hopkins, D. R. & Mandlowitz, S. (1966). The role of calcium and magnesium ions in invasiveness of schistosome cercariae. Am. J. trop. Med. Hyg. 15, 314–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lowry, R. R. (1968). Ferric chloride spray detector for cholesterol and cholesteryl esters on thin-layer chromatograms. J. Lipid Res. 9, 397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miettinen, T. A. (1967). Cholestanol and plant sterols in the adrenal gland of the rat. Acta Chem. Scand. 21, 286–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nicolaides, N. (1965). Skin lipids. II. Lipid class composition of samples from various species and anatomical sites. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 42, 691–702.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olivier, L. J. (1966). Infectivity of Schistosoma mansoni cercariae. Am. J. trop. Med. Hyg. 15, 882–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rai, S. L. (1966). Biology of Austrobilharzia terrigalensis Johnston, 1917 (Trematoda: Schistosomatidae). Ph.D. thesis, The Australian National University.Google Scholar
Rai, S. L. & Clegg, J. A. (1968). Death of schistosome cercariae during penetration of the skin. I. Penetration of bird skin by Austrobilharzia terrigalensis. Parasitology 58, 199–214.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rouser, G., Bauman, A. J., Kritchevsky, G., Heller, D. J. & O'Brien, J. S. (1961). Quantitative chromatographic fractionation of complex lipid mixtures: brain lipids. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 38, 544–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stirewalt, M. A. (1966). Skin penetration mechanisms of helminths. In The Biology of Parasites. Ed. Soulsby, E. J. L.. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Stirewalt, M. A. & Kruidenier, F. J. (1961). Activity of the acetabular secretory apparatus of cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni under experimental conditions. Expl. Parasit. 11, 191–211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thorson, R. E., Digenis, G. A., Berntzen, A. & Konyalian, A. (1968). Biological activities of various lipid fractions from Echinococcus granulosus scolices on in vitro cultures of Hymenolepis diminuta. J. Parasit. 54, 970–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wagner, A. (1959). Stimulation of Schistosomatium douthitti cercariae to penetrate their host. J. Parasit. 45 (sect. 2), 16 (abstract only).Google Scholar