Chemical Attraction between Adults of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis: Characterization of the Substance Which Attracts Females

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Abstract
Females of N. brasiliensis were attracted to the lipid fraction of excretory and secretory (ES) products of both males and females. Thin layer chromatography [TLC] revealed several components in the lipid fraction, 1 of which (designated b and II) attracted females in vitro. The substance cochromatographed by TLC with cholesterol and .beta.-sitosterol but neither authentic sterol was attractive when tested in vitro. Band II was detected in ES from both sexes of normal and immune-damaged worms but that from damaged females was not attractive, thereby correlating with the previously reported nonattractiveness of live damaged females and their whole ES. As determined by quantitative TLC, damaged female ES contained a significantly lower concentration of Band II material than that of other worm types although qualitative differences between damage female Band II and that of other worm types were not ruled out.