title: Helminths and Intestinal Flora Team Up to Improve Gut Health.
abstract: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are associated with impaired intestinal barrier function, chronic inflammation, and microbial dysbiosis. In a recent publication in Science, Ramanan et al. used murine and human studies to demonstrate that infections with gastrointestinal helminths can protect against IBD by provoking immune responses that alter the balance of commensal and pathogenic bacteria in the intestine.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biodiscovery and Molecular Development of Therapeutics, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia. Electronic address: paul.giacomin@jcu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giacomin
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biodiscovery and Molecular Development of Therapeutics, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Zainab
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Agha
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biodiscovery and Molecular Development of Therapeutics, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Loukas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000502:physiology*; D006376:Helminths / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D051379:Mice
keywords: helminth; hygiene hypothesis; inflammatory bowel disease.; microbiota