ReviewBMC infectious diseases2017
Gut microbiota disturbance during helminth infection: can it affect cognition and behaviour of children?
Review in BMC infectious diseases, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed.
- Disturbance in human gut microbiota networks by parasites and its implications in the incidence of depression.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- Ectoparasitism and the gut microbiota: a cross-fostering experiment in a wild passerine.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Article
- From parasite-induced immune activation to neuroinflammation and behavioral dysfunction: convergent mechanisms across protozoa and helminths: a review.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Review
- The peritoneal cestode Taenia crassiceps restructures gut bacterial communities in the mouse host: identification of potential resistance-associated bacteria.Parasitology research · 2025Article
- Does schistosome infection affect behavior through the gut-brain axis?PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Effects of household concrete floors on maternal and child health: the CRADLE trial - a randomised controlled trial protocol.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Retrospective Study of Intestinal Parasites Among Pediatric Patients Treated at a Tertiary Hospital in Southern Ethiopia: A 5-Year Retrospective Study.Journal of tropical medicine · 2025Article
- Effects of household concrete floors on maternal and child health - the CRADLE trial: a randomised controlled trial protocol.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
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- Field evaluation of the gut microbiome composition of pre-school and school-aged children in Tha Song Yang, Thailand, following oral MDA for STH infections.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- Galectins - Important players of the immune response to CNS parasitic infection.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2021Review
- Twenty-year economic impacts of deworming.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Alteration of the fecal microbiota in Chinese patients with Schistosoma japonicum infection.Parasite (Paris, France) · 2021Article
- Alterations of Gut Microbiome and Metabolite Profiling in Mice Infected byFrontiers in immunology · 2020Article
- Effects of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) education on childhood intestinal parasitic infections in rural Dembiya, northwest Ethiopia: an uncontrolled before-and-after intervention study.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2019Article
- Determinants of Spatial Heterogeneity of Functional Illiteracy among School-Aged Children in the Philippines: An Ecological Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
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- Modulation of the immune response by helminths: a role for serotonin?Bioscience reports · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBidirectional signalling between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract is regulated at neural, hormonal, and immunological levels. Recent studies have shown that helminth infections can alter the normal gut microbiota. Studies have also shown that the gut microbiota is instrumental in the normal development, maturation and function of the brain. The pathophysiological pathways by which helminth infections contribute to altered cognitive function remain poorly understood. DISCUSSION: We put forward the hypothesis that gastrointestinal infections with parasitic worms, such as helminths, induce an imbalance of the gut-brain axis, which, in turn, can detrimentally manifest in brain development. Factors supporting this hypothesis are: 1) research focusing on intelligence and school performance in school-aged children has shown helminth infections to be associated with cognitive impairment, 2) disturbances in gut microbiota have been shown to be associated with important cognitive developmental effects, and 3) helminth infections have been shown to alter the gut microbiota structure. Evidence on the complex interactions between extrinsic (parasite) and intrinsic (host-derived) factors has been synthesised and discussed. While evidence in favour of the helminth-gut microbiota-central nervous system hypothesis is circumstantial, it would be unwise to rule it out as a possible mechanism by which gastrointestinal helminth infections induce childhood cognitive morbidity. Further empirical studies are necessary to test an indirect effect of helminth infections on the modulation of mood and behaviour through its effects on the gut microbiota.
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