Humans are superorganisms. Bacteria (microbiome) and multicellular organisms (macrobiome) have cohabited the human intestinal tract since his existence, over which time the immune system itself has evolved. During this time, interactions among these two groups and the human host are expected to have driven co-evolution. A growing body of literature is starting to reveal how gut-dwelling macrobiota and microbiota may interact in humans. For example, both gastrointestinal helminths and members of the microbiota have been separately credited for their immunomodulatory abilities and contribution to immune homeostasis within human.

In the 1970s, the “hygiene hypothesis” was proposed as an explanation for the steep and alarming rise in prevalence of allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases among urban, Westernized societies. The hygiene hypothesis links changes in housing, sanitation and healthcare to increased allergic disease, and proposes that this is in part due to the degradation of our micro- and macrobiome.

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Since then, the support for our microbiome through pre- and probiotics have become widely accepted as a key element for human health. We believe it is also time to reintroduce a macrobiome in human. Symbiotic nematodes can further contribute to our health through a strong immunomodulatory effect and further enhancing the microbiome. A growing number of scientific studies is supporting the idea of helmintic therapy to improve allergic, autoimmune and inflammatory symptoms.