Eicosanoids: their biosynthesis in accessory sex organs of Lymnaea stagnalis (L.)

Summary

High performance liquid chromatography has been used to identify the eicosanoids produced from radiolabelled arachidonic acid by accessory sex organs of Lymnaea stagnalis. Radiolabelled compounds co-eluting with the primary prostaglandins normally associated with invertebrates were present, together with two eicosanoids known to occur in vertebrates. These results lend support to the suggestion of van Duivenboden (Int. J. Invertebr. Reprod., 6 (1983) 249–257) that prostaglandins (PGs) are involved in accelerating the onset of egg laying in female copulants of this species. The inability of indomethacin and aspirin to completely inhibit PG biosynthesis in L. stagnalis suggests that the PG synthetase of this snail differs from that of mammals and most other invertebrates.

Keywords:

• eicosanoids
• Lymnaea stagnalis
• accessory sex organs
• female maturation
• egg laying