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.
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