Effects of Schistosoma mansoni infection on lutein and β-carotene concentrations in Biomphalaria glabrata snails as determined by quantitative high performance reversed phase thin-layer chromatography

High performance thin-layer chromatography was used to determine the concentration of β-carotene and lutein in the whole body and digestive gland-gonad complex (DGG) of uninfected Biomphalaria glabrata snails and those infected with Schistosoma mansoni for 6 and 8 weeks. Pigments were extracted from the snails using acetone and separated on EMD Millipore reversed phase C-18 plates with concentration zone using petroleum ether-acetonitrile-methanol (1:1:2) mobile phase. After development, two yellow pigment zones, lutein and β-carotene, were identified with respective R f values of 0.55 and 0.13 and then quantified by densitometry. Statistical analysis of the weight percentages of each pigment showed a significant decrease (P < 0.05) in the concentration of β-carotene in the DGGs of infected B. glabrata at 6 and 8 weeks post-infection compared to the uninfected snails. No significant differences were seen in the concentrations of β-carotene in the whole body of the uninfected versus infected snail samples. Changes in the lutein concentration of the infected DGG and whole snail bodies were insignificant compared to the uninfected controls. In conclusion, larval S. mansoni infection caused a significant decrease in the β-carotene concentration of the DGG at 6 and 8 weeks post infection.