Detection and separation of fatty acids and proteins in monogenean flatworm <i>Polystoma integerrimum  </i>

Metabolite methodology in parasites assists in gaining a better comprehension of their roles in infection, adaptation, pathogenesis, taxonomy, diagnosis, and host-parasite interactions. The present study aimed to isolate and detect fatty acids and proteins in tissue extract of the whole flatworm Polystoma integerrimum that settle in the urinary bladder of the frog Bufo viridis, using Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) techniques, respectively.The results showed that the number of fatty acids in flatworm extract was ten. Six of them were three unsaturated fatty acids, which included oleic (C18:1n-9), linoleic (C18:2n-6), and linolenic (C18:3n-3) acids, and three other saturated fatty acids, which included myristic (C14:0), palmitic (C16:0) and stearic acids (C18:0). The palmitic (49.022%) and stearic (35.499%) fatty acids were the highest among the ten total fatty acids. In addition, the SDS-PAGE technique showed that the number of protein bands in the flatworm extract was six, where the second (76859 D), fourth (23356 D), and fifth (13966 D) bands of the extract matched the first (bovine serum albumin), fourth (pepsin), and fifth (alpha-lactalbumin) bands of the standard proteins, respectively. The other three bands, the first, third, and sixth, were not matched by any of the standard protein bands. The present study could be a starting point for studying more metabolites and increasing the present-day knowledge of their types, mechanism of action, and their role in the biological and taxonomical fields to fill the gap in data about this flatworm.