What do the Eiffel Tower and pinworms have in common?

 They're both Paris-sites...... Thank you, thank you, I'm here till 5 and please no tomatoes to the face. Listening to someone talk about a subject they are passionate about, especially when they are eloquent, can be as moving as music. One of the podcasts I listen to is "This Week in Parasitism" or TWIP, I am working my way through all 214 episodes and learning more about parasites than I ever wanted to. 

Did you know that there is a theory that intestinal parasites prevented autoimmune GI diseases throughout human history? That is until we all became hypochondriacs and now here in the developed world. Now we all have heard about Crohn's disease, IBD, and celiac disease, but could these be a consequence of our cleanliness? Before you go out and eat a handful of dirt, just remember the other buggies that hide in there. Or don't, I love my job and talking with the ID team at the hospital about the consequences of dirt eating. 

An article by Mohammadi et al, pulled from the NIH website has some great figures comparing the distribution and amount of parasitic infections against the prevalence of IBD, Crohn's, and celiac disease. The numbers are inversely related to each other. From a TWIP episode, maybe 3 or 4 or 5 or 6, it was discussed that it might be the redirection of the immune system against the intestinal parasite that stops the development of autoimmune GI diseases. It is thought that there is antigenic familiarity between the parasites and the GI cells. Interesting thought but to my not Ph.D mind it makes sense. We use immune suppression to deal with these autoimmune diseases. So maybe scabies infections would cure psoriasis? Interesting. Good luck finding anyone interested in that study. 

Regardless, I think this is super cool, and really that is all that matters. Check out TWIP, linked below. 



References

Image of pinworm eggs from Medscape: Pinworm (Enterobiasis) workup @ https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/225652-workup#c8

This Week in Parasitism. https://www.microbe.tv/twip/

The relationship between intestinal parasites and some immune-mediated intestinal conditions from Gastroenterology and Hepatology from Bed to Bench in 2015

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