Surprisingly!

High levels of certain types of bacteria or parasites can lead to an unhealthy gut, leading to symptoms such as inflammation, irritable bowel syndrome, stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhea, and constipation

Led by research fellows Dr Deng Lei, Dr Png Chin Wen and Dr Lukasz Wojciech from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, NUS Faculty of Medicine, the research shows that the parasite suppresses intestinal inflammation and displays probiotic properties to maintain Gut health

Dr Deng Lei, one of the authors of the study, said: "When people think of parasites, we don't usually associate them with beneficial organisms

The ability of cysticercosis st4 to reorganize the gut state into a healthy microbial composition may be due to its ability to increase the types of bacteria that produce beneficial molecules, as well as to increase immune cells that suppress inflammation

Dr Png Chin Wen, another author of the study, added: "Our data suggest that cysticercosis ST4 acts like an 'ecosystem engineer', helping to maintain the diversity and diversity of the gut bacterial environment for better to combat potential diseases that may arise

"The prevailing view of bacteria is that they are either good or bad

The researchers added that while cysticercosis ST4 has been shown to have beneficial properties, not all cysticercosis subtypes behave in the same way

Journal Reference :

1. Lei Deng, Lukasz Wojciech, Chin Wen Png, Eileen Yiling Koh, Thet Tun Aung, Dorinda Yan Qin Kioh, Eric Chun Yong Chan, Benoit Malleret, Yongliang Zhang, Guangneng Peng, Nicholas Robert John Gascoigne, Kevin Shyong Wei Tan.