Infection With Ascaris Eggs Relieves Symptoms Of Ulcerative Colitis

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

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

Loke and his set followed a 35-year-old man with severe colitis who tried worm (or "helminthic") analysis to avoid surgical removal of his entire colon. He researched the therapy, flew to a drug 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 decisive to follow the man's condition.

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

Tissue entranced during vigorous 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 decide interleukin-22 (IL-22), a protein that promotes wound healing.