Nutrition of Endoparasites

General Information

Like other animals, endoparasites require a supply of nutrients to support their survival and continued growth and reproduction. However, in contrast to free-living organisms, all of the parasitic stages of Protozoaand helminths are nutritionally dependent on another living organism, the host. The fact that parasites inhabit a wide variety of tissues and organs in both invertebrates and vertebrates and that each parasite is faced with a succession of different environments during its developmental cycle makes their nutritional biochemistry highly complex. Most of the knowledge on this subject has derived from studies on parasites that were maintained in culture, removed from their intimate and delicately balanced relationship with the host. Not many parasite species can be maintained for long periods of time under strictly defined conditions and only very few can be cultured through their complete developmental and reproductive cycles that require complex media...