HPTLC ANALYSIS OF NEUTRAL LIPIDS IN THE INTESTINAL MUCOSE, SERUM, ANDLIVER OF ICR MICE INFECTED WITH ECHINOSTOMA-CAPRONI (TREMATODA) AND OF WORM EXCRETORY-SECRETORY PRODUCTS

High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) has been used to qu antify neutral lipids in the intestinal mucosa, serum, and liver of IC R mice infected with Echinostoma caproni. HPTLC analysis was also used to quantify the neutral lipids from the excretory-secretory (ES) prod ucts of worms maintained in vitro. There was a significant increase (S tudent's t-test, P < 0.05) in free fatty acids and a significant decre ase in free sterols 2 weeks after infection in the intestinal mucosa o f infected mice compared with that of uninfected controls. There were no significant changes in these lipid concentrations 3 weeks after inf ection. There were no significant differences between the free fatty a cids or the free sterols in the livers of experimental or control mice 2 and 3 weeks after infection. Three weeks after infection the concen tration of free sterols in the serum of control hosts mas 1.7 times gr eater than in that of the experimental hosts, whereas the free fatty a cid concentration in the serum of experimental hosts was 1.5 times gre ater than in that of the controls hosts, The concentration of free fat ty acids in the worm ES products was five times greater than that of t he sterols. The increase in free fatty acids in the intestinal mucosa of mice infected with E. caproni probably results both from alteration s in the host mucosa and from the release of worm ES products.