Effects of Schistosoma mansoni and High Temperature on the Lipid Composition of Biomphalaria glabrata as Determined by High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography and Densitometry

Silica gel high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) was used to study the effects of both Schistosoma mansoni infection and high temperatures on the neutral and polar lipid content of whole bodies of Biomphalaria glabrata snails. Neutral lipids were determined using petroleum ether-diethyl ether-glacial acetic acid (80:20:1) mobile phase, phosphomolybdic acid detection reagent, densitometry at 610 nm, and polar lipids with chloroform-methanol-water (65:25:4) mobile phase, cupric sulfate-phosphoric acid reagent, and scanning at 370 nm. The high-temperature experiments were done at ambient (22–24°C), 28°C, and 34°C. Snails were maintained at these temperatures for 7 days prior to necropsy. Extracts of their bodies were then analyzed by HPTLC to determine changes that occurred in the lipid content as a function of temperature and to compare unexposed to exposed cultures at each temperature. At 4 weeks postinfection (PI), the 34°C exposed snails had significantly lower amounts of free sterols than the unexposed culture. At 4 weeks PI, the 34°C exposed snails also had significantly lower amounts of free sterols than the ambient and 28°C exposed snails. At 6 weeks PI, ambient exposed snails had significantly lower free fatty acids and significantly higher phosphatidylcholine than unexposed snails. The 28°C exposed snails had significantly lower amounts of free sterols and phosphatidylethanolamine than the unexposed snails. The 28°C exposed snails also had significantly higher amounts of free sterols, triacylglycerols, and phosphatidylcholine than the ambient snails and significantly lower amounts of free fatty acids than the ambient temperature snails. The ambient exposed snails had significantly lower amounts of free sterols than the 28°C and 34°C snails. The 34°C exposed snails had significantly lower amounts of triacylglycerols than the ambient temperature and 28°C exposed snails. At 8 weeks PI, the 28°C exposed snails had significantly higher amounts of phosphatidylcholine than the unexposed snails. These findings suggest that high temperature and S. mansoni infection had individual and combined deleterious effects on the lipid metabolism of the snails.