Infection With Ascaris Eggs Relieves Symptoms Of Ulcerative Colitis

Infection With Ascaris Eggs Relieves Symptoms Of Ulcerative Colitis.
The situation of a crew who swallowed parasite eggs to treat his ulcerative colitis - and in actuality got better - sheds light on how "worm therapy" might help heal the gut, a imaginative 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 over leader P'ng Loke, an aid professor in the department of medical parasitology at NYU Langone Medical Center as example. A somebody parasite, Trichuris trichiura infects the large intestine.

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

Loke and his duo followed a 35-year-old man with severe colitis who tried worm (or "helminthic") psychotherapy to avoid surgical removal of his entire colon. He researched the therapy, flew to a repair 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," Loke said. Intrigued, he and his colleagues unswerving to follow the man's condition.

The analysis analyzed slides and samples of the man's blood and colon tissue 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 enchanted during hyperactive colitis showed a large number of CD4+ T-cells, which are immune cells that reveal the inflammatory protein interleukin-17, the team found. However, tissue taken after worm therapy, when his colitis was in remission, contained lots of T-cells that turn into interleukin-22 (IL-22), a protein that promotes gash healing.

Further, after worm therapy, the man's colon produced significantly more mucus, said Loke, who notorious that a lack of mucus in the colon is linked with severe symptoms. "We think the worms proliferation or restore mucus production in the colon," he said. "Basically, the gut is trying to eject the worms.

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

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

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 recollect what causes the disease, but speculate that immune-system dysfunction plays a role.

Colitis is common in developed countries such as America - where parasitic worm infections are first-class - and in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where almost 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 physical studies suggest that various parasitic worms can back inflammation, the study noted.

The study also suggests new, worm-based treatments for both ulcerative colitis and IBD. Research might point out molecules derived from worms that hinder inflammation, or pathways activated by worms that can be targeted by more conventional approaches, Loke said.

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