Helminth immunoregulation and "helminth therapy".

A group of multi-cellular organisms,helminths are invertebrates that wriggle by contracting and flexing muscles on opposite sides of the body.Helminth infections are a major theme of the hygiene hypothesis. Animal studies of infections have indicated a characteristic Th2 immune response that may eliminate or inhibit the Th1 response;helminth infections tend to be long-term chronic parasitic infections and reduce the severity of allergies and autoimmune diseases at the same time.This paper reviews the relevant information concerning immunoregulation,helminth infection and allergies,autoimmunity,and helminth therapy, and this paper examines new ways to use the mechanisms of immunoregulation by helminths to intervene in allergies and autoimmune diseases.