HPLC techniques have been applied to study amino acid uptake and relea
se by Trichomonas vaginalis under a variety of conditions. Studies on
the growth of T. vaginalis in complex media and the survival of the pa
rasite in simple media, with and without amino acids and/or maltose, h
ave shown that the growth or survival of T. vaginalis is better in the
presence of maltose than when it is absent, and that greater amounts
of amino acids are consumed by T. vaginalis in the absence of maltose.
The results are consistent with several amino acids, notably arginine
, threonine, leucine and methionine, being used by T. vaginalis as ene
rgy substrates. T. vaginalis released alanine and glycine into the cul
ture media, the excretion being greater in the presence of maltose. Th
ese studies have provided new data on the uptake and release of amino
acids by T. vaginalis and pave the way for detailed analysis of key en
zymes and the regulation of the pathways involved.