Fancy a hookworm?

Associate Professor Chow Sek Chuen

Would you consent to carrying a few hookworms in your gut if it would improve your asthma, or other severe allergic reactions?

Monash University Malaysia’s Associate Professor Chow Sek Chuen is looking for researchers keen to conduct clinical trials in Malaysia on the use of hookworms to alleviate severe allergies like asthma.

Dr Chow, an immunotoxicologist, was involved in research in the UK seeking to understand how the immune system reacted to the presence of hookworms.

Hookworms, which grow to about 1cm, commonly infect people in rural areas. The hookworm enters the body through the skin, usually when walking barefoot, and travels to the gut where it feeds on the blood of the infected individual.

“I was fascinated by the fact that the immune system was reacting to the presence of hookworms in the human gut, but was unable to get rid of the worms.

“We eventually discovered that these hookworms escape the attack from the immune system using secretions to create an area around them that the immune system couldn’t penetrate.

“This was very useful information for us, as it meant that vaccines could be developed to neutralise these secretions and allow the body to get rid of the worms.”

During this research, we also discovered that the presence of hookworms in the body triggered an immune reaction that suppresses factors that cause severe allergic reactions like asthma and hay fever.

To prove this theory, Dr Chow said a colleague who suffered from severe hay fever deliberately infected himself with hookworms.

“Since then his hay fever disappeared. His experiences were featured in a documentary film produced by the BBC. To test this theory clinical trials are now on-going in the UK.”

"There is an opportunity to conduct similar clinical trials here and I am seeking researchers who are keen to carry out the trials," said Dr Chow, a Malaysian who returned home recently to work at Monash University Malaysia.

Dr Chow, a registered toxicologist in the UK as well as an immunologist by training, was previously working at the UK Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit based at Leicester.

The Medical Research Council is a government agency responsible for awarding funding for all medical research carried out in the UK.

Dr Chow said among the issues being studied in the UK clinical trials was the number of hookworms the human body could sustain and whether there were any other side effects.

“One of the major issues is malnutrition since the hookworms feed on the blood of the host, but generally due to our good diet, most people in urban areas will not feel the loss due to the hookworms, which is miniscule.”

He said the hookworms can be easily and effectively removed using simple medication.

Aside from research in this area, Dr Chow said he will also explore new areas of research in toxicology particularly those that affect the immune system.

"Malaysia has placed a great emphasis on biotechnology in recent years and there is a demand for specialists in the niche area of toxicology to support the growth in biotechnology products. Another area is the toxicology of herbal preparations produced and marketed in Malaysia.

“Since most of these herbal products are sold under health and nutritional supplements, they do not come under food and drug administration controls. With the increasing production and use of herbal preparations it is important that safety evaluations and risk assessments are carried out on the potential toxic side effects of these products,” he said.