How helminths trump diabetes

Parasitology The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is inversely correlated with helminth infections in Asia. This may be because helminths have an immunomodulatory effect and thus dampen the type 1 (allergic type) immune responses underlying the proinflammatory state of T2DM. To test this idea, Rajamanickam et al. measured plasma levels of cytokines in 60 individuals living in rural India infected with Strongyloides stercoralis , a persistent nematode gut parasite, which in most people is symptomless. They compared these results with plasma cytokine concentrations from 58 T2DM patients showing no worm infection. Parasitized individuals showed significantly increased levels of interleukin-1 receptor alpha (IL-1Rα), which is typical of type 2 immune responses, and low levels of a wide range of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. When diabetic subjects were treated for parasites, their proinflammatory state, typically marked by increased IL-1β and IL-6, partially rebounded. PLOS Neg. Trop. Dis. 14 , e0008101 (2020).