Currently Enrolling Study

Multiple Sclerosis

If you have relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and have not been treated for it, you may qualify for a study involving small worms called “helminth.” This study is called the helminth-induced immunomodulation therapy, or HINT, study.

Highly clean environments in developed countries reduce exposure to germs and parasites. This reduced exposure may trigger responses in the body that make people more susceptible to diseases such as RRMS, in which a person’s immune system causes damage to their own tissues and internal organs. People in non-industrial countries and the tropics, where parasites are common, rarely develop these diseases.

The helminths used in this study are tiny parasitic worms, about the size of an eyelash, whose natural host is the pig. This worm cannot live for more than a few weeks in a human intestine.  When a human ingests the microscopic eggs of this worm, the eggs hatch inside the intestine and temporarily take up residence there, where they cause an immune response, which may lessen the effects of RRMS.

Participation in this study will last up to 6 months and will require up to 7 study visits. People in this study will take capsules containing processed helminth eggs, every 2 weeks for 3 months.

If you are between the ages of 18 and 45 and you have RRMS but have not been treated for it, you may qualify for this study.

For more info, contact Andrea Maser, Study Coordinator, at (608) 265-6544 or 1-800-755-5667. You can also email us at ctrials@clinicaltrials.wisc.edu.