Parasitic worms benefit Crohn’s disease patients
Parasitic worms may be a safe and effective treatment for Crohn’s disease, new research suggests.
In an open label study 29 patients with active Crohn’s disease
ingested a drink containing 2,500 eggs of the helminth Trichuris
suis every three weeks for 24 weeks. The eggs had been treated so that they
would not transfer any bacteria or viruses to the study participants.
Patients continued to take their regular medicines at the dose they had
been stabilised on and their symptoms were recorded using a disease activity
score. After 24 weeks, nearly 80 per cent of patients (23) experienced
an improvement in their condition and over 72 per cent (21) went into
remission.
Crohn’s disease is less common in less
developed areas of the world where most people carry worms, and worms
have previously been shown to reduce inflammation in mouse models of
colitis. The researchers
describe how Crohn’s disease is associated with over reactive type
1 T-helper cell pathways and say that helminths inhibit these
immune responses.
They add that although a high placebo
effect cannot be excluded, no side effects or complications were reported
from the treatment and helminths may therefore offer an alternative or
supplement to current treatments. They say that these results justify
further research (Gut 2005;54:87). |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader