PORPHYRINS IN PERIENTERIC FLUID OF ASCARIS-LUMBRICOIDES

Porphyrins in the perienteric fluid of adult female A. lumbricoides were esterified in methanolic H2SO4, extracted in chloroform, separated by TLC and identified spectrophotometrically before and after conversion to their Zn and Cu chelates. Protoporphyrin IX was the major component, comprising 95.4% of the total; the remaining 4.6% was coproporphyrin III. Uroporphyrin was not detected; no porphyrins were recovered from other worm tissues. Fluid from worms with light and dark colored guts varied in protoporphyrin content from 0.58-4.08 nmol/ml, respectively, but fluid from both groups contained similar molar ratios of protoporphyrin, coproporphyrin and heme.