Comparative activity and properties of lactate dehydrogenase, xanthine dehydrogenase, and dihydrofolate reductase in normal and Brugia pagangi-infected Aedes aegypti

The amount of xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH), dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in crude extracts of 4- to 5-day-old adult Aedes aegypti was determined, and the properties of these enzymes were partially characterized. It was then found that the amount and other selected characteristics of XDH and LDH in extracts of female Ae. aegypti processed 5 to 7 days and 12 to 14 days after they had fed upon either normal or Brugia pahangi-infected jirds were indistinguishable from those of these two enzymes in extracts of female mosquitoes that did not have a blood meal. Under the same circumstances, the selected characteristics of DHFR were also unaffected. However, there was a suggestion that the amount of DHFR was slightly increased in extracts of female Ae. aegypti processed 5 to 7 days after they had fed upon B. pahangi-infected jirds; by 12 to 14 days after the blood meal, there was a consistent 30% to 60% increase in the amount of DHFR inextracts of infected mosquitoes. DHFR activity could not be detected in a similarly prepared extract of 4,000 to 5,000 infective (L-3) B. pagangi larvae, the approximate number present in the infected mosquito extracts. It would appear, therefore, that the increased amount of turnover of DHFR in the mosquito host occurs in response to advanced infection with B. pahangi.