Comparative study on isoenzyme patterns of Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica

Differences in the number of isoenzymes and their electrophoretic mobility are very valuable tools for characterization of closely related species of a certain parasite. This study aimed to compare the isoenzymatic patterns of Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. Adult F. hepatica and F. gigantica were collected from infected livers of sheep and cattle and their species was determined by molecular method. Enzymes were extracted from the adult worms and subjected to electrophoresis through a polyacrylamide gel. The activities of nine enzymatic systems; including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI), glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), malic enzyme (ME), nucleoside hydrolyse 1 (NH1), phosphoglucomutase (PGM), isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICD), and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) were evaluated from both Fasciola species. The enzymatic profile obtained for SOD system for F. hepatica were two-banded pattern whereas in F. gigantica it was a four-banded pattern. NH1 revealed one band in F. hepatica with relative mobility of 0.05 and two bands in F. gigantica with relative mobility of 0.05 and 0.66. In ICD, GPI and G6PD enzyme systems, both Fasciola species revealed one band but with different relative mobility. Isoenzymatic profile of MDH, 6PGD, PGM and ME were the same in both species. Findings of this study revealed that F. hepatica and F. gigantica have entirely different isoenzyme patterns in the enzymes of ICD, G6PD, GPI, PGM and SOD. These enzyme systems may be used for differentiation of these two species of Fasciola.