Helminthic therapy and aging

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Hosting helminths could be key to living longer with greater freedom from chronic disease.

The scientific evidence

• 2021 Feb 2 Gross ways to live long: Parasitic worms as an anti-inflammaging therapy? -- Full text | PDF (Also reported by Press Release. [1])

Theoretically, helminths could counter inflammaging in several ways. For example, they could inhibit sources of inflammaging by preventing gut barrier permeabilization and obesity, neutralize existing inflammaging by increasing the proportion of anti-inflammatory to pro-inflammatory cytokines, or repair inflammaging-afflicted tissue damage, for example through promotion of IL-22 secretion

• 2023 Nov 23 Protection against lung pathology during obesity-accelerated ageing in mice by the parasitic worm product ES-62
• 2021 Jan 13 Parasite Presence Induces Gene Expression Changes in an Ant Host Related to Immunity and Longevity
• 2020 Mar 12 The parasitic worm product ES-62 promotes health- and life-span in a high calorie diet-accelerated mouse model of ageing -- Full text

This study was the first of its kind to report that weekly administration of the helminth-derived product, ES-62, improved late-life health and increased lifespan (+12%, median lifespan) in a mouse model of high-calorie diet-accelerated aging. This suggests that the anti-inflammatory effects of helminthic therapy can exert protective effects even in later life.

• 2018 Dec Early life infection and host senescence
• 2015 Apr Impairment of host resistance to helminthes with age in murine small intestine

See also

• 2020 Aug Eosinophils and White Fat: Protection from Worms and Inflammaging

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), now more commonly known as endotoxin, is a collective term for components of the outermost membrane of the cell envelope of gram-negative bacteria, such as E. coli and Salmonella with a common structural architecture.

Excessive LPS in the blood, endotoxemia, may cause a highly lethal form of sepsis known as endotoxic septic shock. Recent research indicates that even small LPS exposure is associated with autoimmune diseases and allergies. High levels of LPS in the blood can lead to metabolic syndrome, increasing the risk of conditions like diabetes, heart disease and liver problems.

LPS binds Toll like receptor 4 (TLR-4) which is present in various organs and activates an inflammation process.

Helminths can act in 4 different ways:

• reduce the gram-negative bacteria in the microbiota
• fix leaky gut
• maybe send peptides that prevent interaction with the toll-like receptor (TLR) 4/MD2/CD14 complex [2]. (This is yet to be confirmed with therapeutic helminths.)
• the immunomodulatory effect

See

• Mechanisms underlying helminth colonization. Search with keywords and see sections: Toll-like receptor (TLR) and Myd88 pathways, Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and Antagonist of TLR3 and TLR4 signaling pathway
• Helminthic therapy and sepsis

Other mechanisms

• 2020 Apr 6 Activation of group 2 innate lymphoid cells alleviates aging-associated cognitive decline -- Full text | PDF
• 2015 Dec 3 Adiponectin/adiponectin receptor in disease and aging -- Full text | PDF

see also Mechanisms underlying helminth colonization - Adiponectin

Not directly related

• 2019 Sep 20 Implication of the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) during inflammation and ageing -- PDF

see Mechanisms underlying helminth colonization - RAGE signaling pathway

The anecdotal evidence

I’m a year into NA treatment. And I truly appear to be physically aging backwards. I barely recognize myself in pictures from a year ago… my skin, hair, and nails have changed. I’m more well nourished & my outside reflects that.” [3] [4]

At sixteen years since (my hookworm story) began, I continue to maintain my hookworm colony and I’m still enjoying the benefits reported (in this article). However, now that I’m close to entering my ninth decade of life, age is beginning to take its toll. I’m no longer as sprightly as I once was, and the acuity of some of my senses is diminishing somewhat. Nevertheless, I can still eat everything I want to, and my Crohn’s disease, allergies, sinusitis, chemical sensitivity and Restless Legs Syndrome are all still in remission. [5]

Age-related diseases

Macular degeneration / age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

• 2021 Feb 2 Gross ways to live long: Parasitic worms as an anti-inflammaging therapy? -- Full text | PDF (Also reported by Press Release. [6])

See also

• 2025 Oct 1 Current and emerging therapies for dry and neovascular age-related macular degeneration -- Full text
• 2012 Nov 27 NIH study suggests immune system could play a central role in AMD
• 2009 Nov-Dec Autoimmunity in retinal degeneration: autoimmune retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration

See also (VEGF)

• 2023 Jan 23 Nematode-Induced Growth Factors Related to Angiogenesis in Autoimmune Disease Attenuation -- Full text | PDF
• 2021 Nov 16 Diminished Circulating Levels of Angiogenic Factors and Rage Ligands in Helminth-Diabetes Comorbidity and Reversal Following Anthelmintic Treatment -- Full text | PDF

Neurodegenerative diseases

See Helminthic therapy and neurodegenerative diseases

Osteoarthritis

See Helminthic therapy and osteoarthritis

Osteoporosis

• 2025 Nov Clonorchis sinensis Crude Antigen Suppresses Osteoclast Differentiation via Modulation of the NF-κB and MAPK Signaling Pathway -- Full text | PDF

• 2021 Apr Schistosoma japonicum cystatin suppresses osteoclastogenesis via manipulating the NF‑κB signaling pathway

• 2017 Oct 16 Is osteoporosis an autoimmune mediated disorder? -- Full text | PDF
• 2017 Jan 13 Inflammatory arthritis and systemic bone loss are attenuated by gastrointestinal helminth parasites

Here, we show that infection with the natural mouse helminth parasite, Heligmosomoides polygyrus bakeri (Hp) not only attenuates the development of arthritis in two different inflammatory arthritis mouse models (...) but also impacts positively on systemic bone metabolism.

See also

• 2024 Dec Contribution of macrophage polarization in bone metabolism: A literature review
• 2022 Jun 6 Insights into the Role of Macrophage Polarization in the Pathogenesis of Osteoporosis
• 2020 Sep 30 Macrophage Polarization and Osteoporosis: A Review
• 2019 Apr 2 Age-related inflammation triggers skeletal stem/progenitor cell dysfunction (Press coverage * 2019 Mar 18 'Inflamm-aging' causes loss of bone healing ability in the elderly

Age-associated inflammation is responsible for the decline in the number and function of the skeletal stem cells that enable bones to heal.

• 2010 Oct Novel functions for NFκB: inhibition of bone formation

See also

• Helminthic therapy and sepsis

The reintroduction to the digestive tract of a controlled number of specially domesticated, mutualistic helminths (intestinal worms) in the form of microscopic eggs or larvae to reconstitute a depleted biome to treat or prevent chronic inflammation, autoimmune disease and other immune-related disorders, including allergy.

An intestinal worm which grows large enough to be seen with the naked eye when mature but which is microscopic when administered in helminthic therapy. Wikipedia:Helminths

An intestinal worm which grows large enough to be seen with the naked eye when mature but which is microscopic when administered in helminthic therapy. Wikipedia:Helminths

The reintroduction to the digestive tract of a controlled number of specially domesticated, mutualistic helminths (intestinal worms) in the form of microscopic eggs or larvae to reconstitute a depleted biome to treat or prevent chronic inflammation, autoimmune disease and other immune-related disorders, including allergy.

An intestinal worm which grows large enough to be seen with the naked eye when mature but which is microscopic when administered in helminthic therapy. Wikipedia:Helminths

The specific population of microorganisms living in a certain part of the body, such as the gut. "Microbiome" refers to all the microorganisms living in and on the body, or the genome of these microorganisms. These two terms are often used interchangeably.

a change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.

the human hookworm, Necator americanus

A helminth that lives in the small intestine. Necator americanus (NA) is the only hookworm species used in helminthic therapy. Its microscopic larvae are applied periodically to the skin.

An organism that lives in or on another organism (its host) and benefits at the host’s expense. (The organisms used in helminthic therapy are, strictly speaking, not parasites, but mutualists, because they have a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with their hosts.)