The worm is already transforming lives previously blighted by asthma, allergies and autoimmune disorders (Which diseases have responded well to helminthic therapy?).
Now, unfolding research suggests that the worm might also be effective against a diverse range of conditions that were not previously considered to have inflammatory components, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, gastric reflux, schizophrenia and aortic dissection.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Recently announced research indicates that the origins of pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Tourette syndrome and/or tic disorder may lie in an inappropriate immune response to bacteria which cause common throat infections.
The team involved have been able to demonstrate an association between the appearance of antibodies directed against Group A beta-hemolytic streptoccoccus (GABHS) in peripheral blood and the onset of repetitive behaviors and deficits in attention, learning, and social interaction.
The revelation that antibodies alone are sufficient to trigger the onset of this behavioral syndrome will undoubtedly have medics reaching for sophisticated solutions such as intravenous immunoglobulin, or plasma exchange to remove the antibodies, in order to attenuate the autoimmune response, but the humble helminth may well do the job as effectively as any drug, and without any long term side effects.
This work may also suggest a role for helminths in treating and preventing other disorders potentially linked to autoimmunity, including mood, attentional, learning, and eating disorders, as well as autism spectrum disorders.
Schizophrenia
The provocative conclusion that a mental disorder can result from a lingering immune response inevitably makes one wonder about schizophrenia, and a Swedish study has already found that patients with recent-onset schizophrenia do in fact have higher levels of inflammatory substances in their brains.
While previous studies had analysed inflammatory factors in the blood of patients with schizophrenia, the Swedish researchers were able to examine inflammatory substances in the patients’ spinal fluid, and found raised levels of interleukin-1beta, a signal substance released in the presence of inflammation, which is not seen in anywhere near the same quantities in healthy control patients.
Interleukin-1beta is known to be able to upset the dopamine system in rats, which may explain the overactive dopamine system which has, until now, been the main focus of attention in schizophrenia in humans.
This development will inevitably raise hopes that schizophrenia may be treatable using immunotherapy, and perhaps that it might even be possible to interrupt the course of the disease at an early stage of its development.
Immunotherapy using helminths is unlikely to be considered by researchers, but these organisms would seem to be ideal candidates for the role, in view of their proven track record against inflammation and their freedom from adverse events.
Acid Reflux
According to newly released information, the common condition referred to as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) might not be due to burning by stomach acid backing up into the oesophagus, as has long been thought to be the case, but by inflammation caused by immune cells in response to exposure to bile salts.
The study has shown that gastroesophageal reflux causes tissue in the oesophagus to release immune chemicals called cytokines, which, in turn attract inflammatory cells, resulting in the heartburn and chest pain that characterise GERD.
As helminths are past masters of inflammation control, their presence could potentially bring relief from GERD.
Aortic Dissection
Aortic dissection, the condition that develops when a bulge in the aorta gives way and leaks (leading to nearly 16,000 deaths annually in the US alone), was formerly thought to be the result of a simple structural failure. However, researchers appear to have uncovered biochemical processes that chip away at the aorta from within, until it finally tears, and inflammation has been revealed as the central player in this process.
Once again, one wonders whether this condition might be prevented from developing at all in someone who is hosting helminths.
