INORGANIC ELEMENTS IN MONIEZIA EXPANSA ( RUDOLPHI , 1805 )

Dr. Archana Gupta. Inorganic elements play an important role in the physiology of parasites. These are intimately related with growth, maintenance of acid-base equilibrium and synthesis of organic material. In present study seven inorganic elements viz. Ca , Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd was determined quantitatively in immature , mature and gravid proglottids of Moniezia expansa by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Quantitative analysis revealed that Ca and Mg content were higher than Fe. Cu and Pb were very low.

Inorganic elements play an important role in the physiology of parasites. These are intimately related with growth, maintenance of acid-base equilibrium and synthesis of organic material. In present study seven inorganic elements viz. Ca , Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd was determined quantitatively in immature , mature and gravid proglottids of Moniezia expansa by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Quantitative analysis revealed that Ca and Mg content were higher than Fe. Cu and Pb were very low.

Introduction:-
Inorganic elements play an important role in the physiology of parasites. These are intimately related with growth, maintenance of acid-base equilibrium and synthesis of organic material.
Some of these inorganic elements are toxic heavy metals like Cd and Pb which are major health risk concern due to their bioaccumulation potential, persistant nature and harmful biological effects (Sharma et al , 2010) and their presence in parasites may indicate their presence in host environment. Thus, its presence in M.expansa might be used as an accumulation indicators or bioindicator system for heavy metal pollution in terrestrial bioptopes. No work has been done in India, on inorganic elements in M. expansa. So, the present study is an attempt to determine some of the inorganic elements in it by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Also, this is the first attempt in respect to the study of inorganic elements in different proglottids of Moniezia expansa.

Materials and methods:-
Specimens of Moniezia expansa were procured from the intestines of infected sheep slaughtered at local abattoirs and were washed thoroughly with normal saline until they were free from the debris, washed well with distilled water and separated into immature, mature and gravid regions. Tissues were blotted quickly on filter paper to soak the adhering moisture on body and were weighed. A portion of each sample was weighed and were dried at 100°C ± 5ºC for 24 hrs in hot air oven and used for determining the dry weight percentage. The weighed fresh tissues were transferred to conical flasks and 10 ml of digestion mixture (HNO 3 and perchloric acid mixture in 6:1 ratio) was added to all conical flasks including 2 blanks.
The digestion of tissues was done on hot plate in the fuming chamber and the acid was evaporated completely until white fumes appeared.
After digestion, the samples were reconstituted by adding 10 ml of distilled water to each flask. The samples were read for metals Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd on a atomic absorption spectrophotometer model Varian 250 plus against the suitable standards for each metal in the linear range of 0.5 to 5 ppm. Standards used were purchased from Sigma, USA.

Results:-
Concentration of inorganic elements in immature, mature and gravid proglottids of Moniezia expansa in percentage dry weight of tissues is shown in Table 1 . The values are mean ± S.D. of five samples in duplicate. Cd ---

Discussion:-
The results of present study reveals that Ca, Mg, Fe, Pb, Cu and Zn were found in immature, mature and gravid proglottids of Moniezia expansa but Cd was found to be absent. The amount of Zn in present study is 0.0021%, 0.0022% and 0.0027% respectively in immature, mature and gravid proglottid of Moniezia expansa. It is low in comparision to that studied by Jankovska,(2011) in M. expansa, Nadakal et al. (1982) in Raillietina tetragona. Zn content in present study is slightly higher in gravid than mature and immature proglottid and the study of Zn in different proglottids of Moniezia expansa is done for the first time.
The amount of Cu is 0.0003%, 0.0002% and 0.0004% respectively in immature, mature and gravid proglottid of Thus, it may be possible that these trace elements present in very small amounts in the environment may be taken in the body of parasite and may constitute a significant part of its chemical composition . Thus these cestode may be a bioindicator of such toxic element in host's environment (Jankovska,I.2010).
Cadmium is found to be absent in Moniezia expansa in the present study but was reported in the same parasite by