METABOLISM OF PARASITIC HELMINTHS

Abstract

commented on the disproportionality between our knowledge concerning the biochemistry of vertebrates and bacteria on one hand and that of invertebrate metazoa on the other. This author has pointed out that biochemistry is “in danger of growing without properly differentiating, of developing members adult in size while possessing only the most primitive supporting structures and correlating apparatus, ” and that “only by ensuring the proportionate growth of all its members can the full humanitarian value of biochemistry be realized.” As with other invertebrate metazoa, information about the metabolism of parasitic helminths is very limited. On the other hand, the distribution of parasitic worms is extremely wide. At least 800 million human beings are infested with helminths and in many of them multiple infestations occur; Stall (176) has estimated that the total number of helminthiases exceeds two billion. The metabolism of parasitic worms, as a group, is of particular interest also, because of the great differ-ences in the chemical composition of the habitats of various species. In view of these marked environmental differences which include also differences in the oxygen tension, it is not surprising that the metabolism of these organisms varies from one species to another to a much greater extent than does that of the vertebrates. Several subjects discussed in this article have been reviewed previously by