Trichuris suis therapy in Crohn’s disease
Open accessAbstract
Background: Crohn’s disease is common in highly industrialised Western countries where helminths are rare and uncommon in less developed areas of the world where most people carry worms. Helminths diminish immune responsiveness in naturally colonised humans and reduce inflammation in experimental colitis. Thus exposure to helminths may help prevent or even ameliorate Crohn’s disease. Aims: The aim of the study was to determine the safety and possible efficacy of the intestinal helminth Trichuris suis in the treatment of patients with active Crohn’s disease. Patients: Twenty nine patients with active Crohn’s disease, defined by a Crohn’s disease activity index (CDAI) ⩾220 were enrolled in this open label study. Methods: All patients ingested 2500 live T suis ova every three weeks for 24 weeks, and disease activity was monitored by CDAI. Remission was defined as a decrease in CDAI to less than 150 while a response was defined as a decrease in CDAI of greater than 100. Results: At week 24, 23 patients (79.3%) responded (decrease in CDAI >100 points or CDAI <150) and 21/29 (72.4%) remitted (CDAI <150). Mean CDAI of responders decreased 177.1 points below baseline. Analysis at week 12 yielded similar results. There were no adverse events. Conclusions: This new therapy may offer a unique, safe, and efficacious alternative for Crohn’s disease management. These findings also support the premise that natural exposure to helminths such as T suis affords protection from immunological diseases like Crohn’s disease.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
T. suis has proved to infect humans and has been demonstrated to be a possible new, safe, and efficacious alternative for the management of intestinal diseases in humans.
“Nevertheless, T. suis has proved to infect humans and demonstrated to be a possible new, safe, and efficacious alternative for the management of intestinal diseases in humans.”
From Are we paying too much attention to cardio-pulmonary nematodes and neglecting old-fashioned worms like Trichuris vulpis? (2011) · cites this paper as [92]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Development of a Crohn's Disease Activity Index
Best, W. R., Becktel, J. M., Singleton, J. W., & Kern, F. (1976) · Gastroenterology · doi:10.1016/s0016-5085(76)80163-1 · Cited by 3,152 · see citing works
Development of a Crohn's disease activity index. National Cooperative Crohn's Disease Study.
Best, W. R., Becktel, J. M., Singleton, J. W., & Kern, F. (1976) · PubMed · Cited by 3,147 · see citing works
Antibodies to interleukin 12 abrogate established experimental colitis in mice.
Neurath, M., Fuss, I. J., Kelsall, B. L., Stuber, E. R., & Strober, W. (1995) · The Journal of Experimental Medicine · doi:10.1084/jem.182.5.1281 · Cited by 1,334 · see citing works
Berg, D., Davidson, N. M., Kühn, R., Müller, W., Menon, S., Holland, G., Thompson-Snipes, L., Leach, M. W., & Rennick, D. M. (1996) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci118861 · Cited by 1,125 · see citing works
Summers, R. W., Elliott, D. E., Qadir, K., Urban, J. F., Thompson, R., & Weinstock, J. V. (2003) · The American Journal of Gastroenterology · doi:10.1111/j.1572-0241.2003.07660.x · Cited by 437 · see citing works
Self-citationSabin, E., Araújo, M. I., Carvalho, E. M., & Pearce, E. J. (1996) · The Journal of Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1093/infdis/173.1.269 · Cited by 322 · see citing works
Exposure to schistosome eggs protects mice from TNBS-induced colitis
Elliott, D. E., Li, J., Blum, A. M., Metwali, A., Qadir, K., Urban, J. F., & Weinstock, J. V. (2003) · American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology · doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00049.2002 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
Self-citationIntestinal Nematode Infection Ameliorates Experimental Colitis in Mice
Khan, W. I., Blennerhassett, P. A., Varghese, A. K., Chowdhury, S. K., Omsted, P., Deng, Y., & Collins, S. M. (2002) · Infection and Immunity · doi:10.1128/iai.70.11.5931-5937.2002 · Cited by 269 · see citing works
Does the failure to acquire helminthic parasites predispose to Crohn's disease?
Elliott, D. E., Urban, J. F., Argo, C. K., & Weinstock, J. V. (2000) · The FASEB Journal · doi:10.1096/fj.99-0885hyp · Cited by 260 · see citing works
Self-citationSandborn, W. J., Feagan, B. G., Hanauer, S. B., Present, D. H., Sutherland, L. R., Kamm, M. A., Wolf, D. C., Baker, J. P., Hawkey, C. J., Archambault, A., et al. (2001) · Gastroenterology · doi:10.1053/gast.2001.24042 · Cited by 257 · see citing works
Borkow, G., Leng, Q., Weisman, Z., Stein, M., Galai, N., Kalinkovich, A., & Bentwich, Z. (2000) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci10182 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
Moreels, T. G., Nieuwendijk, R. J., Man, J. G. D., Winter, B. Y. D., Herman, A. G., Marck, E. A. V., & Pelckmans, P. A. (2003) · Gut · doi:10.1136/gut.53.1.99 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Beer, R. J. S. (1976) · Research in Veterinary Science · doi:10.1016/s0034-5288(18)33478-7 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Sands, B. E., Winston, B., Salzberg, B. A., Safdi, M. A., Barish, C. F., Wruble, L. D., Wilkins, R., Shapiro, M. A., Schwertschlag, U. S., & THE RHIL‐11 CROHN'S STUDY GROUP (2002) · Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2036.2002.01179.x · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Helminths and harmony: Figure 1
Weinstock, J. V., Summers, R., & Elliott, D. E. (2003) · Gut · doi:10.1136/gut.53.1.7 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Self-citationInfliximab treatment for Crohn's disease
Conroy, C., & Cattell, R. (2001) · Postgraduate Medical Journal · doi:10.1136/pmj.77.909.436 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Infliximab for the Treatment of Crohn'S Disease: Review and Indications for Clinical Use in Canada
Panaccione, R. (2001) · Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology · doi:10.1155/2001/490921 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
&NA; (2001) · European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology · doi:10.1097/00042737-200106000-00032 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Infliximab in the Treatment of Crohn’s Disease
Feagan, B. G. (2000) · Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology · doi:10.1155/2000/809282 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Weinstock JV, Summers R, Elliott DE. Helminths and harmony. Gut 2004;53:7-9.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Soil-transmitted helminth infections: ascariasis, trichuriasis, and hookworm
Bethony, J., Brooker, S., Albonico, M., Geiger, S. M., Loukas, A., Diemert, D., & Hotez, P. J. (2006) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(06)68653-4 · Cited by 2,478 · see citing works
Raison, C. L., Lowry, C. A., & Rook, G. A. W. (2010) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.161 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Traversa, D. (2011) · Parasites & Vectors · doi:10.1186/1756-3305-4-32 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
Design, recruitment, and microbiological considerations in human challenge studies
Darton, T. C., Blohmke, C. J., Moorthy, V. S., Altmann, D. M., Hayden, F. G., Clutterbuck, E. A., Levine, M. M., Hill, A. V. S., & Pollard, A. J. (2015) · The Lancet Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1016/s1473-3099(15)00068-7 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Polarization of host immune responses by helminth‐expressed glycans
Tundup, S., Srivastava, L., & Harn, Jr. (2012) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2012.06618.x · Cited by 71 · see citing works
- Authors
- Summers, R. W., Elliott, D. E., Urban, J. F., Thompson, R., & Weinstock, J. V.
- Affiliations
- University of Iowa (US)
- Agricultural Research Service (US)
- Corresponding author
- Summers, R W
- Venue
- Gut
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2004-12-10
- Volume
- 54
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 87-90
- ISSN
- 0017-5749 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-3288
- PMC
- PMC1774382
- OpenAlex
- W2098251798
- Cited by
- 762
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 35 · 2015: 53 · 2014: 54 · 2013: 44 · 2012: 56
- FWCI
- 19.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Gut (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America
- Crohn's and Colitis Foundation
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Parasitology › Parasites and Host Interactions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Helicobacter pylori-related gastroenterology studies
- Keywords
- Crohn's disease, Trichuris suis, helminth therapy, CDAI, remission, treatment efficacy, safety, immunomodulation, intestinal helminths
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Animals, Crohn Disease, Female, Host-Parasite Interactions, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Remission Induction, Severity of Illness Index, Trichuriasis, Trichuris, Treatment Outcome
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
