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Comparative study of the spatial relationship between nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate‐diaphorase activity, serotonin immunoreactivity, and GYIRFamide immunoreactivity and the musculature of the adult liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica (Digenea, Fasciolidae)

This is the first detailed description of the nitrergic nervous system in a fluke. In this study, the authors analysed the distribution of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate‐diaphorase (NADPH‐d) reactivity in neuronal and nonneuronal tissues of the adult fluke Fasciola hepatica and compared this with the distribution of the musculature using tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate‐phalloidin. To assess the correlation between the number of muscle cells in different parts of the fluke and the NADPH‐d‐stained cells, the nuclei were stained with Hoechst 333 42, which is specific for chromatin. The spatial relation between the NADPH‐d‐positive nerves and the 5‐hydroxytryptamine (serotonin; 5‐HT)‐immunoreactive (‐IR) and GYIRFamide‐IR nervous elements was also examined. The methods complement each other. NADPH‐d‐positive staining occurs in both in neuronal tissue and nonneuronal tissue. Large, NADPH‐d‐stained neurones were localised in the nervous system. The oral and ventral suckers are innervated with many large NADPH‐d‐stained neurones. In addition, the NADPH‐d staining reaction follows closely the muscle fibres in both the suckers, in the body, and in the ducts of the reproductive organs. The presence of NADPH‐d activity along muscle fibres in F. hepatica and in other flatworms supports a possible myoinhibitory role for nitric oxide. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase in flatworms may form a novel drug target, which would facilitate the development of a novel anthelminthic. J. Comp. Neurol. 429:71–79, 2001. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.