Abstract
In the snail,Achatina fulica, parasitized by the rat lungwormAngiostrongylus cantonensis, levels of carbohydrate in hemolymph and digestive glands were determined. The normal level of hemolymph glucose of 11.7 mg% dropped to 4.25 mg% in the infected snails, a significant difference after only one week of infection. The level of total reducing sugar in the hemolymph also decreased significantly (12.3 mg% to 3.6 mg%) in this period. Later on, the snails were capable of adapting themselves to the parasitic infection and the concentration of hemolymph sugars returned to the normal range. Starvation caused a decrease in the carbohydrate reserves of the digestive gland only when the starved snails had been previously infected.
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Brockelman, C.R., Sithithavorn, P. Carbohydrate reserves and hemolymph sugars of the African giant snail,Achatina fulica in relation to parasitic infection and starvation. Z. Parasitenkd. 62, 285–291 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00926568
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00926568