GLUCOSE-METABOLISM IN GIARDIA-INTESTINALIS

The effect of glucose and other monosaccharides on Giardia intestinalis was investigated by growing G. intestinalis trophozoites in Diamond's TYI-S-33 medium modified by changes in the monosaccharide component, and observing changes in the trophozoite growth and product formation (alanine, ethanol and acetate). Reducing the glucose concentration from 50 mM to 10 mM had little effect on trophozoite growth and product formation. Below 10 mM glucose, ethanol production was markedly reduced, there was a lesser effect on alanine, but acetate production was unaffected. In medium in which no glucose had been added, trophozoites grew at about half the rate of controls (50 mM glucose) and continued to form the same products. Growth in medium containing 10 mM ribose or 10 mM fructose substituted for glucose produced a metabolic profile similar to that of the no glucose added condition. The activity of a number of glycolytic and related enzymes was also determined, but the enzymic profile was not affected by the monosaccharide status of the medium. Ethanol production by trophozoites was specifically depressed by the aldehyde reductase inhibitor, valproate; 3 mM valproate reduced ethanol production by 90%. The alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitor pyrazole had no effect on ethanol production or any other parameter. This differential inhibition suggests that ethanol is produced by an aldehyde reductase or related enzyme. The observations that G. intestinalis trophozoites can continue to grow, replicate and produce the same metabolites in medium containing little or no glucose suggest that G. intestinalis is not solely dependent on glucose as a metabolic fuel. It seems likely that G. intestinalis utilises other carbon sources, particularly nitrogenous compounds, and that the energy metabolism is more complex than previously believed.