Problems of interpreting integumental D-glucose fluxes by the integument of Schistosoma

1. The parasitic trematode Schistosoma mansoni can take up glucose across its surface at a rate three times higher than the glucose uptake by the mucosal border of the rabbit ileum. 2. Washout of tritiated polyethylene glycol (M Wt 4000) indicated that it was being lost through the integument and that the gut contribution is very small. 3. There is a peripheral diffusion resistance that will profoundly influence any transepidermal solute transfer.