The Protective Role of Helminths in Autoimmunity

Autoimmune diseases prevalence has grown throughout the last century, mostly in the western world. Helminths, their ova and their derivatives were found to have a protective role in autoimmunity and inflammatory conditions. Helminths were found to manipulate the immune network by attenuating the host's cellular and humoral responses. Indeed, various helminths species used in several human and animal models were shown to limit inflammatory activity in a variety of autoimmune diseases [e.g. inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, lupus, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and Graves' disease]. Our review will focus on those autoimmune diseases in which helminths and their derivatives demonstrated a therapeutic potential.