Infection With Ascaris Eggs Relieves Symptoms Of Ulcerative Colitis

Infection With Ascaris Eggs Relieves Symptoms Of Ulcerative Colitis.
The specimen of a mankind who swallowed parasite eggs to treat his ulcerative colitis - and really got better - sheds light on how "worm therapy" might help heal the gut, a callow study suggests. "Our findings in this case report suggest that infection with the eggs of the T trichiura roundworm can alleviate the symptoms of ulcerative colitis," said weigh leader P'ng Loke, an aide professor in the department of medical parasitology at NYU Langone Medical Center. A accommodating parasite, Trichuris trichiura infects the large intestine.

The findings could also lead to additional ways to treat the debilitating disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) currently treated with drugs that don't always industry and can cause serious side effects, said Loke. The contemplation findings are published in the Dec 1, 2010 issue of Science Translational Medicine.

Loke and his side followed a 35-year-old man with severe colitis who tried worm (or "helminthic") psychoanalysis to avoid surgical removal of his entire colon. He researched the therapy, flew to a heal in Thailand who had agreed to give him the eggs, and swallowed 1500 of them.

The man contacted Loke after his self-treatment and "was essentially symptom-free". Intrigued, he and his colleagues sure to follow the man's condition.

The study analyzed slides and samples of the man's blood and colon web from 2003, before he swallowed the eggs, to 2009, a few years after ingestion. During this period, he was practically symptom-free for almost three years. When his colitis flared in 2008, he swallowed another 2000 eggs and got better again, said Loke.

Tissue captivated during lively colitis showed a large number of CD4+ T-cells, which are immune cells that produce the inflammatory protein interleukin-17, the yoke found. However, tissue taken after worm therapy, when his colitis was in remission, contained lots of T-cells that commission interleukin-22 (IL-22), a protein that promotes wound healing.

Further, after worm therapy, the man's colon produced significantly more mucus who popular that a lack of mucus in the colon is linked with cruel symptoms. "We think the worms increase or restore mucus motion in the colon. Basically, the gut is trying to expel the worms.

This increase in mucus may play a position in relieving the symptoms. This is not the usual clinical trial, but you take your opportunities for unique observation where you can," said Dr Gerald W Dryden Jr, official of the clinical research dividing line of gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition at the University of Louisville, in Kentucky.

Before this study, IL-22 had not been associated with serviceable effect in IBD, said Dryden. "While it doesn't determine cause-and-effect, the study does seem to manifest an important, previously unknown association between IL-22 and response to helminthic therapy".

Causing abdominal pain, diarrhea and other symptoms, colitis affects about 700000 Americans, according to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. Scientists don't positive what causes the disease, but hypothesize that immune-system dysfunction plays a role.

Colitis is stereotyped in developed countries such as America - where parasitic worm infections are rare - and in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where more the entire population is infected, the study noted. Clinical trials with the pig whipworm Trichuris suis have improved the symptoms of both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and uncultured studies suggest that various parasitic worms can discontinue inflammation, the study noted.

The mull over also suggests new, worm-based treatments for both ulcerative colitis and IBD. Research might home molecules derived from worms that suppress inflammation, or pathways activated by worms that can be targeted by more everyday approaches.

Right now, however, worm therapy is still not well-understood and could potentially backfire, the study warned. "The hard is that these worms themselves can cause harm and damage the gut. The individual in this study is opportune to have responded so well, but for other people the worm infection may exacerbate bowel inflammation" prices. Studies that use the pig worm, which should advance less risk to humans, are under way.