Worm Infection Can Improve Gut Health: Study

Parasitic worms promote the growth of beneficial intestinal microbes in a mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease.

Written byTanya Lewis
| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

Egg from a human whipworm (Trichuris trichiura)CDC, B.G. PARTINNot all parasitic worm infections are detrimental. Researchers at the New York University (NYU) Langone School of Medicine recently found that infection with helminths promoted the growth of healthy gut microbes in a mouse model of Crohn’s disease. The findings, published today (April 14) in Science, point toward possible avenues for treating intestinal disorders.

“It’s a beautifully done paper,” immunologist Joel Weinstock of Tufts University in Boston, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Science. “It had not been previously shown that one of the mechanisms of IBD is through changes in the intestinal flora.”

Some studies suggest that parasitic worms may have beneficial effects on everything from intestinal diseases to autism. In fact, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is known to be less prevalent in parts of the world with high rates of worm infection.

To identify the mechanism behind this unusual link, NYU’s Ken Cadwell and colleagues studied mice that lacked the gene Nod2, which confers susceptibility to Crohn’s disease. The mice developed abnormal gut morphology, including increased numbers of Bacteroides vulgatus bacteria.

But infecting the mice with ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here
Image of small blue creatures called Nergals. Some have hearts above their heads, which signify friendship. There is one Nergal who is sneezing and losing health, which is denoted by minus one signs floating around it.
June 2025, Issue 1

Nergal Networks: Where Friendship Meets Infection

A citizen science game explores how social choices and networks can influence how an illness moves through a population.

View this Issue
An illustration of green lentiviral particles.

Maximizing Lentivirus Recovery

cytiva logo
Unraveling Complex Biology with Advanced Multiomics Technology

Unraveling Complex Biology with Five-Dimensional Multiomics

Element Bioscience Logo
Resurrecting Plant Defense Mechanisms to Avoid Crop Pathogens

Resurrecting Plant Defense Mechanisms to Avoid Crop Pathogens

Twist Bio 
The Scientist Placeholder Image

Seeing and Sorting with Confidence

BD

Products

The Scientist Placeholder Image

Waters Enhances Alliance iS HPLC System Software, Setting a New Standard for End-to-End Traceability and Data Integrity 

The Scientist Placeholder Image

Agilent Unveils the Next Generation in LC-Mass Detection: The InfinityLab Pro iQ Series

agilent-logo

Agilent Announces the Enhanced 8850 Gas Chromatograph

parse-biosciences-logo

Pioneering Cancer Plasticity Atlas will help Predict Response to Cancer Therapies