The identification and estimation of acetylcholine in three parasitic nematodes (Ascaris lumbricoides, Litomosoides carinii, and the microfilariae of Dirofilaria repens)

Abstract

1. Extracts made from whole nematode worms, Litomosoides carinii, and from Ascaris ‘heads’ and body wall tissue, contain a substance similar to acetylcholine.2. In the case of extracts from Litomosoides whole worms, this substance was shown to be probably acetylcholine itself.3. Tissue from the anterior end of Ascaris (including the nerve ring), contains about 15 times as much acetylcholine as the body wall preparations; i.e. 0·39μg./g. as compared with 0·025μg/g. of wet weight.4. There appeared to be rather more acetylcholine present in the Litomosoides males than in the females; 0·92μg./g. as compared with 0·63μg./g. of wet weight.5. The microfilariae of the filariid nematode of the dog, Dirofilaria repens, contain as much as 2·4;μg./g. of acetylcholine. In this respect it resembles some other motile parasites of the blood, such as trypanosomes.