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In developed countries, we've mostly eliminated freeloaders like parasitic worms from our guts. But we also have the highest rates of inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD—when the immune system mistakenly attacks intestinal cells and friendly gut bacteria.
在發達國家，人們體內吃白食的寄生蟲幾乎消失殆盡了。但我們感染上炎癥性疾病（簡稱IBD）的概率仍然很高，因為免疫系統會錯把腸道細胞和友好的腸道細菌當做攻擊對象。
For years, docs suspected there might be a connection between IBD and our worm-free lifestyle. And a handful of studies have actually shown that infecting human patients with worms can reduce symptoms of the disease. But how?
多年來，醫生們一直懷疑炎癥性疾病的高發與人們遠離寄生蟲的生活方式有關。大量研究顯示：病人體內感染上寄生蟲能幫助緩解疾病的病征。但為什么呢？
To find out, researchers fed parasitic worm eggs to monkeys with chronic diarrhea and gut inflammation—similar to IBD. After infection, the monkeys' immune systems kicked into high gear, pumping out more mucus than usual to fight the worms. But that response also helped heal the monkeys' intestines—restoring healthy, diverse populations of gut bacteria and decreasing the diarrhea. Those results appear in the journal PLoS Pathogens.
為了找到答案，研究人員給患有腹瀉和腸道炎癥的猴子喂食寄生蟲卵。猴子感染上寄生蟲后，免疫系統高速運轉，分泌出更多的粘液來對付寄生蟲。然而這種反應也能幫助治療猴子的炎癥性疾病——使健康，多樣化的腸道細菌得以恢復，并緩解腹瀉的癥狀。這篇研究發表在《公共科學圖書館·病原體》期刊上。
The researchers already have FDA approval to study the worms in human subjects. Interested patients can go to clinicaltrials.gov to sign up—and hopefully worm their way out of intestinal distress.
在研究人體內的寄生蟲方面已經獲得了管理局審批。有興趣的患者可以登陸網站 clinicaltrials.gov 進行注冊。但愿腸道細菌能幫助患者早日康復。
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