Acetylcholinesterase and cholinesterase activities in giardia lamblia trophozoites cultured in vitro

Abstract

Axenic culture of Giardia lamblia trophozites in vitro was conducted from patients infected with Giardia lamblia. The cholinesterase (ChE) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities were determined in cultured Giardia trophozoites. The enzyme activities were found in boh tissue-bound and tissue-free forms. There was low ChE and AChE enzyme activities in trophozoites (1.6095 ± 1.0981; 0.9626 ± 0.1322; 0.1387 ± 0.0783; 0.0752 ± 0.0877 Units/ mg protein, respectively). The tissue-bound and tissue-free ChE enzymes were found in a greater amount than tissue-bound and tissue-free AChE enzymes. The presence of these enzymesin Giardia may involved in the motility of Giardia trophozoites.