Thin layer chromatographic analysis of neutral lipids and phospholipids in Helisoma trivolvis (Colorado strain) maintained on a high fat diet

Thin layer chromatographic analysis was used to determine neutral lipids and phospholipids in Helisoma trivolvis (Colorado strain) snails maintained on a high fat diet of hen's egg yolk. Whole snail bodies, the digestive gland-gonad complexes (DGGs), and plasma samples were analyzed for lipids. The mean percentage values of free sterols, free fatty acids, triacylglycerols, methyl esters, steryl esters, phosphatidylcholine (PC), and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) in snail whole bodies fed yolk were 1.9, 2.3, 9.2, 2.8, 63, 3, and 5.6 times higher, respectively, than those fed lettuce. The mean percentage values of free sterols, free fatty acids, triacylglycerols, methyl esters, steryl esters, PC, and PE in the DGGs of snails fed yolk were 3.0, 2.2, 3.0, 6.4, 58, 1.4, and 3.4 times higher, respectively, than those on the lettuce diet. Only free fatty acids and PC were detected in plasma, and the respective concentrations were 1.9 and 3.4 times higher in the plasma of the snails on the yolk diet compared to those on the lettuce diet. This research shows that H. trivolvis, in addition to Biomphalaria glabrata, is a useful pulmonate to study the effects of a high fat diet on hyperlipidemia and hyperlipemia in snails.