Lipid Metabolism in the Larval and Adult Forms of the Tapeworm Spirometra mansonoides

Abstract

Abstract The composition and metabolism of the fatty acids and lipids in the larval and adult forms of Spirometra mansonoides were studied. The parasite has a high content of cholesterol and of neutral and phospholipids which contain large amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The fatty acid composition of the parasite closely resembles that of its host. S. mansonoides lacks the mechanisms required for the synthesis de novo of its sterols and long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids either in the presence or in the absence of molecular oxygen. By contrast, it possesses mechanisms for the synthesis of its own triglycerides, sterolesters, and phospholipids, with the use of exogenously supplied sterols and fatty acids.