MSGID: 1:317/3 63e1d3fa   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    How a high fat diet allows expulsion of intestinal parasite worms    
      
     Date:   
         February 6, 2023   
     Source:   
         Lancaster University   
     Summary:   
         Scientists have discovered that a high-fat diet allows the immune   
         system to eliminate a parasitic worm which is a major cause of   
         death and illness in the developing world. Parasitic worms affect   
         up to a billion people, particularly in developing nations with   
         poor sanitation. One of these parasites known as 'whipworm' can   
         cause long lasting infections in the large intestine. Researchers   
         have discovered that a high-fat diet allows the immune system to   
         eliminate the parasite.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Scientists have discovered that a high-fat diet allows the immune system   
   to eliminate a parasitic worm which is a major cause of death and illness   
   in the developing world.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Parasitic worms affect up to a billion people, particularly in developing   
   nations with poor sanitation. One of these parasites known as "whipworm"   
   can cause long lasting infections in the large intestine.   
      
   Researchers from Lancaster University and the University of Manchester   
   in the UK have discovered that a high-fat diet allows the immune system   
   to eliminate the parasite.   
      
   Lead author Dr Evelyn Funjika, formerly at Manchester and now at the   
   University of Zambia, said: "Just like the UK, the cheapest diets are   
   often high in fat and at-risk communities to whipworm are increasingly   
   utilising these cheap diets. Therefore, how worm infection and western   
   diets interact is a key unknown for developing nations.   
      
   "In order to be able to study how nutrition affects parasite worm   
   infection, we have been using a mouse model, Trichuris muris, closely   
   related to the human whipworm Trichuris trichiura and seeing how a   
   high-fat diet impacts immunity."  It has been previously shown that   
   immune responses which expel the parasite rely on white blood cells called   
   T-helper 2 cells, specialised for eliminating gastrointestinal parasites.   
      
   The findings, published in the journal "Mucosal Immunology," demonstrate   
   how a high-fat diet, rather than obesity itself, increases a molecule   
   on T-helper cells called ST2 and this allows an increased T-helper 2   
   response which expels the parasite from the large intestinal lining.   
      
   Dr John Worthington from the Department of Biomedical and Life Science   
   at Lancaster University co-led the research.   
      
   "We were quite surprised by what we found during this study. High-fat   
   diets are mostly associated with increased pathology during   
   disease. However, in the case of whipworm infection this high fat diet   
   licenses the T-helper cells to make the correct immune response to expel   
   the worm."  Co-lead Professor Richard Grencis from the University of   
   Manchester said: "Our studies in mice on a standard diet demonstrate   
   that ST2 is not normally triggered when expelling the parasite, but   
   the high-fat diet boosts the levels of ST2 and hence allows expulsion   
   via an alternative pathway."  Co-lead Professor David Thornton from the   
   University of Manchester added: "It was really fascinating that simply   
   altering the diet completely switched the immune response in the gut   
   from one that fails to expel the parasite, to one that brings about all   
   the correct mechanisms to eliminate it."  However, Dr Worthington added   
   caution to the findings.   
      
   "Before you order that extra take-away, we have previously published that   
   weight loss can aid the expulsion of a different gut parasite worm. So   
   these results may be context specific, but what is really exciting is the   
   demonstration of how diet can profoundly alter the capacity to generate   
   protective immunity and this may give us new clues for treatments for   
   the millions who suffer from intestinal parasitic infections worldwide."   
   The research was funded by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission,   
   The Wellcome Trust and EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research   
   Council).   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Health_&_Medicine   
                   # Diet_and_Weight_Loss # Obesity # Nutrition # Cholesterol   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Pests_and_Parasites # Biology # Microbiology #   
                   New_Species   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Diabetic_diet o Dog_skin_disorders o Immune_system o   
             Mediterranean_diet o Atkins_Diet o South_Beach_diet o Dieting   
             o Roundworm   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by Lancaster_University. Note: Content   
   may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Evelyn Funjika, Stefano A. P. Colombo, Kelly S. Hayes, Mary J Tozer,   
         Katrina A. Tyrrell, Shanshan Cai, Aduragbemi A. Faniyi, Rebecca K.   
      
         Shears, Megan Dooley, Yasmine Alshammari, Wafaa Alhazmi, Mushref   
         Assas, Abdullah Almilaibary, Lucy H. Jackson-Jones, David   
         J. Thornton, John J.   
      
         Worthington, Richard K. Grencis. High fat diet induced   
         resistance to helminth infection via alternative induction   
         of Type 2 immunity. Mucosal Immunology, 2023; DOI:   
         10.1016/j.mucimm.2023.01.004   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230206130429.htm   
      
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