Onchocerca fasciata: Enzyme histochemistry and tissue distribution of various dehydrogenases in the adult female worm

Histochemistry studies of key dehydrogenases in the glycolytic pathway and related enzymes and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA)-cycle enzymes were carried out on adult female Onchocerca fasciata. The distribution pattern and enzymatic activities of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-GPDH), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), mitochondrial glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (phosphate) [NAD+(P)]-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDH), and NAD+(P)-linked malate dehydrogenase (MDH) in various tissues of the worm were determined. Moderate to intense enzyme activities were localized in three main areas, namely, the hypodermis, body-wall muscle, and reproductive tissues. Activity of the formazan reaction product was very low, if at all present, in the intestinal epithelium and was completely absent in the cuticle. On the basis of the present results and earlier observations, it is suggested that glycolysis leading to the end product lactate is the main energy-generating pathway in O. fasciata. The presence of significant activity of 6-GPDH indicates that the pentose-phosphate pathway might be operative in O. fasciata. In light of the activity of some of the TCA-cycle enzymes, ICDH and MDH, demonstrable in O. fasciata, it is possible that an additional pathway (pyruvate-succinate) of glucose metabolism via a reverse sequence of the TCA cycle may also be operative in the worm. The possible functional significance of the enzymes detected is discussed with respect to their location.