Absorption of Carbohydrates by Intestine of Ascaris lumbricoides in vitro

Abstract

THE intestinal parasite Ascaris lumbricoides is exposed to the same products of digestion of foodstuffs as are the cells of the intestinal mucosal layer of its mammalian host. Little appears to be known about the absorption of foodstuffs by these nematodes except that it probably occurs through the intestine rather than through the cuticle¹. The intestine of Ascaris which is composed of a single layer of cells some 10⁻² cm thick supported by a basement membrane separating the intestinal lumen of the parasite from the coelomic fluid, is readily removed from the nematode to provide a preparation suitable for studies of absorption in vitro. We describe here the findings of experiments designed to examine the capacity of Ascaris intestine to absorb carbohydrates.