Effects of Echinostoma caproni infection on the phospholipid and sphingolipid content of the intestinal mucosa of ICR mice.

High performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) was used to determine phospholipids and sphingolipids in the intestinal mucosa of ICR mice infected with Echinostoma caproni for two weeks. The major phospholipids detected in both infected and non-infected mucosa were phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). HPTLC-densitometric analysis showed that there was a significant decrease in the weight of both PC and PE in the intestinal mucosa of infected mice compared to that of the uninfected controls. Cerebrosides and sulphatides, but not sphingomyelin, were identified in the intestinal mucosa of both infected and uninfected hosts. There was an apparent increase in the cerebroside content of the mucosa of infected versus control mice. The pathobiochemical changes seen in the polar lipid content of infected hosts probably reflect the feeding and behavioural activities of E. caproni in the mouse intestine.