Here’s some good news for diabetes patients. A clinical trial that involves infecting humans with live hookworms has proven beneficial for patients at risk of type 2 diabetes.
Studies have shown that with the eradication of parasite worms, the cases of human inflammatory and metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes have hiked. Researchers from James Cook University, Australia, conducted the world’s first human trial to analyze the protective role of parasitic worms against metabolic disorders. Their findings suggest a substantial improvement in insulin resistance and metabolic health with hookworm infection.
There were 40 participants identified with early warning signs of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. They were injected with microscopic hookworm larvae.
“Participants were inoculated with either 20 or 40 infectious larvae of the human hookworm species Necator americanus or a placebo. All trial participants had risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The trial delivered some considerable metabolic benefits to the hookworm-treated recipients, particularly those infected with 20 larvae,” Dr. Doris Pierce, who led the study, said.
After two years, the participants were offered a deworming medication or the option to stay in the trial for another 12 months. Those injected with 20 larvae showed a substantial drop in insulin resistance from a pre-trial level of 3.0 units to just 1.8 units within a year. They also showed an improvement in mood.
“That was an interesting observation as well, given that much of the trial took place during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. I think to see any improvement in mood was remarkable in itself,” Pierce said.
The study suggests the use of hookworms is safe and calls for further large-scale future trials.
“This early-phase JCU clinical trial provides proof of concept that infection with live hookworms is safe and appears to lead to some improvements in people’s metabolic health, which…
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