In a study published in Nature Communications, scientists discovered a key to how parasites protect themselves from inflammation. Using intestinal worms to treat autoimmune disorders and inflammatory diseases (“helminthic therapy”) has already received a lot of research but the results have been inconsistent. Kateřina Jirků from the Institute of Parasitology at the Czech Academy of Sciences has been studying how factors in the gut can affect these results, specifically the amount of fiber. Using the tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta Kateřina Jirků and her team tested the tapeworm’s effects on rats with fiber-rich and fiber-poor diets. In rats with fiber-rich diets they discovered the tapeworm was healthy and able to induce anti-inflammatory responses in its host. In rats with fiber-poor diets the tapeworm went into an energy-saving state, did not induce an anti-inflammatory response in its host, were smaller in length than the worms in the fiber-rich hosts, and were unable to produce eggs. This finding might help design better helminth therapy studies, by optimizing the helminths’ ability to fight inflammation. To read more click here https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-69475-0