Helminthic Therapy Explained

(430 Words)
Helminthic therapy is a field of immunotherapy involving the introduction of a helminth or its ova into an individual suffering from an immune or autoimmune disease. The rationale of the treatment is to inoculate the individual much as one would do with a vaccine. Patients may be treated with one of three types including the hookworm (Necator americanus), pig whipworm eggs (Trichuris suis ova ) or human whipworm eggs (Trichuris trichiura ova).
Helminthic therapy is based greatly on the hygiene hypothesis. The theory is that exposure to parasites and infectious agents helps individual’s immune systems develop correctly. It surmises that when people are not exposed to as many of these agents, they may be more likely to have incorrect immune responses to other stimuli.
In today’s modern world, many industrialized nations have created methods to avoid exposure to infections and parasites. These measures include proper sanitization, clean food and water, vaccines and more. Obviously these contain great benefits and save countless lives on their own, however an unexpected side effect could be an immune system that does not respond correctly and overacts to benign stimuli.
Most scientists agree that the TH1 type immune response causes incorrect responses to innocuous antigens. The idea behind the Helminthic therapy is that T regulator cells can develop correctly when exposed to microorganisms and parasites with pathogenicity that is low. Helmiths may affect genes and help the immune system learn the correct responses. Their existence may also help to regulate it. Thus exposure to these benign antigens may help to curb some of the autoimmune conditions.
Those who champion helminthic therapy propose it for a number of different conditions. These include Crohn’s Disease, ulcerative colitis, asthma, eczemea, hay fever, food allergies, dermatitis, multiple sclerosis and irritable bowel disease.
There are different organizations that provide helminthic therapy. Autoimmune Therapies uses hookworm injections into the skin. They can do it in one stage or multiple ones and the cost is almost $4000 and $8000 for single and multiple stage, respectively.
There have been various risks associated with helminthic therapy. Possible side effects include nausea, fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea, rash and increased susceptibility to infectious diseases. It is also possible that it could affect the rates of cancer.
Some research into Helminthic therapy has been done with mixed results. Both the University of Nottingham and the University of Iowa have looked at therapies with hookworm and TSO. More research is being conducted by various groups. Further studies will shed new light on whether this is a promising therapy to address the increasing incidence of autoimmune conditions.
Resources:
http://www.helminthictherapy.com/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20054982
http://www.news-medical.net/health/Immunotherapy-and-Helminthic-Therapy.aspx