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Could hosting parasitic worms aid healthy ageing and reduce autoimmune diseases?

Parasitic worms (helminths) could hold the key to living longer and free of many chronic diseases, according to a review of existing evidence by University College London (UCL) researchers.

The review, published ineLife, looks at growing evidence to suggest that losing helminths, which used to live relatively harmlessly in human bodies, can cause ageing-associated inflammation – 'inflammageing'.

A decline in exposure to commensal microbes and gut helminths in developed countries has been linked to increased prevalence of allergic and autoimmune inflammatory disorders – the so-called 'old friends hypothesis'.

The UCL researchers reviewed the evidence for helminth therapy in two areas: treating known inflammatory disorders, such as coeliac disease, and stopping or reversing inflammageing as part of the ageing process.

They outlined how the loss of helminths has so far been linked to a range of inflammatory diseases, including asthma, atopic eczema, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and diabetes.

Some studies have shown that natural infection with helminths can alleviate disease symptoms, for example, in MS and eczema, whereas other studies in animal models suggest that intentional infection with helminths could have benefits against disease.

The authors speculate that if helminths have anti-inflammageing properties, it would be expected that there would be lower rates of inflammageing-related disease in areas where helminth infection is more common. For example, in a region in Eastern India endemic for lymphatic filariasis caused by filarial worms, no one with RA tested positive for circulating filarial antigens, whereas a much higher proportion (40%) of people without RA tested positive for the nematode. Other epidemiological studies have shown protection from helminths against type 2 diabetes and blocked arteries.

The researchers raise the possibility that carefully controlled, restorative helminth treatments (e.g. using helminth-derived proteins) could prevent ageing and protect against diseases such as heart disease and dementia, and warrant further investigation.


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