Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27471720›Full record

ReviewImmunoTargets and therapy2015

The hygiene hypothesis: current perspectives and future therapies.

Leah T Stiemsma, Lisa A Reynolds, Stuart E Turvey, B Brett Finlay

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in ImmunoTargets and therapy, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 107 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
107citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
6.2field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

107 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 184 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Childhood asthma and mould in homes-A meta-analysis.Wiener klinische Wochenschrift · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease: an umbrella review.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024
    Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Article
  6. Surveillance of enteropathogenicJournal of medical microbiology · 2026
    Article
  7. Article
  8. The TPx Protein ofCells · 2026
    Article
  9. The Gut in Early Life-Postnatal Challenges.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Review
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. The Role of the Gut Microbiome in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

47 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Leah T StiemsmaDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; The Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Lisa A ReynoldsMichael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Stuart E TurveyDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; The Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
B Brett FinlayDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
University of British Columbia · CAChild and Family Research Institute · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Developed countries have experienced a steady increase in atopic disease and disorders of immune dysregulation since the 1980s. This increase parallels a decrease in infectious diseases within the same time period, while developing countries seem to exhibit the opposite effect, with less immune dysregulation and a higher prevalence of infectious disease. The "hygiene hypothesis", proposed by Strachan in 1989, aimed to explain this peculiar generational rise in immune dysregulation. However, research over the past 10 years provides evidence connecting the commensal and symbiotic microbes (intestinal microbiota) and parasitic helminths with immune development, expanding the hygiene hypothesis into the "microflora" and "old friends" hypotheses, respectively. There is evidence that parasitic helminths and commensal microbial organisms co-evolved with the human immune system and that these organisms are vital in promoting normal immune development. Current research supports the potential for manipulation of the bacterial intestinal microbiota to treat and even prevent immune dysregulation in the form of atopic disease and other immune-mediated disorders (namely inflammatory bowel disease and type 1 diabetes). Both human and animal model research are crucial in understanding the mechanistic links between these intestinal microbes and helminth parasites, and the human immune system. Pro-, pre-, and synbiotic, as well as treatment with live helminth and excretory/secretory helminth product therapies, are all potential therapeutic options for the treatment and prevention of these diseases. In the future, therapeutics aimed at decreasing the prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease, type 1 diabetes, and atopic disorders will likely involve personalized microbiota and/or helminth treatments used early in life.

Indexed as

atopic diseasehelminthsinflammatory bowel diseasemicrobiotatype 1 diabetes

Identifiers

PMID27471720
PMCPMC4918254
OpenAlexW1863548789

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.