Helminthic therapy: Using worms to treat immune-mediated disease

Abstract

There is an epidemic of immune-mediated disease in highly-developed industrialized countries. Such diseases, like inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and asthma increase in prevalence as populations adopt modern hygienic practices. These practices prevent exposure to parasitic worms (helminths). Epidemiologic studies suggest that people who carry helminths have lessimmune-mediated disease. Mice colonized with helminths are protected from disease in models ofcolitis, encephalitis, Type 1 diabetes and asthma. Clinical trials show that exposure to helminths reduce disease activity in patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. This chapter reviews some of the work showing that colonization with helminths alters immune responses, against dysregulared inflammation. These helminth-host immune interactions have potentially important implications for the treatment ofimmune-mediated disea ses. © 2009 Landes Bioscience and Springer Science+Business Media.