ArticleScientific reports2018
Helminth infection protects against high fat diet-induced obesity via induction of alternatively activated macrophages.
Article in Scientific reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 82 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Impact of Helminth Infection on the Incidence of Metabolic Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2021Pooled it
- Impact of Helminth Infection on Metabolic and Immune Homeostasis in Non-diabetic Obesity.Frontiers in immunology · 2020Trial
- Natural microbiota confer life-long protection against obesity via an early-life, immune-mediated effect on brown adipocytes.Gut microbes · 2026Article
- Helminth infection induces RELMα-dependent adipose tissue transcriptional reprogramming and protection against diet-induced obesity.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Developmental plasticity enables an intestinal tapeworm to adapt to dietary stress.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Recombinant Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Derived fromInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Macrophage migration inhibitory factor from nematode parasite as a novel approach to combat obesity and its metabolic complications.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- The role of immune responses and microbiota in adipose tissue homeostasis.The Journal of physiology · 2025Review
- Interplay of obesity and parasitic infection: current evidence of immunogenesis, tumorigenesis and leptin receptor involvement.Nutrition & metabolism · 2025Review
- Intestinal lymphatic vasculature is functionally adapted to different drainage regions and is altered by helminth infection.The Journal of experimental medicine · 2025Article
- Intestinal helminthFrontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Clinical challenges and technological breakthroughs in helminthic therapy for diabetes.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Treatment of T2DM-related inflammation and vascular injury by regulating cellular crosstalk in the islet microenvironment.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Review
- Systemic Immune Modulation by Gastrointestinal Nematodes.Annual review of immunology · 2024Review
- Monocytes/Macrophages in Helminth Infections: Key Players in Host Defence, Inflammation, and Tissue Repair.Results and problems in cell differentiation · 2024Review
- Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Helminth-Derived Products: Potential Applications and Challenges in Diabetes Mellitus Management.Journal of inflammation research · 2024Review
- Modulation of LPS-Induced Neurodegeneration by Intestinal Helminth Infection in Ageing Mice.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Article
- Maternal helminth infection protects offspring from high-fat-diet-induced obesity through altered microbiota and SCFAs.Cellular & molecular immunology · 2023Article
- How do parasitic worms prevent diabetes? An exploration of their influence on macrophage and β-cell crosstalk.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Epidemiological studies indicate an inverse correlation between the prevalence of the so-called western diseases, such as obesity and metabolic syndrome, and the exposure to helminths. Obesity, a key risk factor for many chronic health problems, is rising globally and is accompanied by low-grade inflammation in adipose tissues. The precise mechanism by which helminths modulate metabolic syndrome and obesity is not fully understood. We infected high fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice with the intestinal nematode parasite Heligmosomoides polygyrus and observed that helminth infection resulted in significantly attenuated obesity. Attenuated obesity corresponded with marked upregulation of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), a key protein involved in energy expenditure, in adipose tissue, suppression of glucose and triglyceride levels, and alteration in the expression of key genes involved in lipid metabolism. Moreover, the attenuated obesity in infected mice was associated with enhanced helminth-induced Th2/Treg responses and M2 macrophage polarization. Adoptive transfer of helminth-stimulated M2 cells to mice that were not infected with H. polygyrus resulted in a significant amelioration of HFD-induced obesity and increased adipose tissue browning. Thus, our results provide evidence that the helminth-dependent protection against obesity involves the induction of M2 macrophages.
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Registered trials
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.