The parasite Blastocystis subtype, which lives in the human gastrointestinal tract, may be beneficial to health and immunity. This conclusion was made by scientists from the Yun Lu Lin Medical School (Singapore). The results of their study were published in the journal Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences.

In a series of experiments, the scientists studied the Blastocystis subtype and found that the parasite stabilized the bacterial ecosystem in the intestines of laboratory models and contributed to faster recovery from inflammation. This was due to the ability of the parasite to increase the number of bacteria that produce useful molecules, as well as to promote the growth of immune cells that reduce inflammation in the body.

However, not all Blastocystis subtypes behave in the same way, and therefore not all of them can be beneficial to human health. In the future, scientists plan to study in more detail the effects on the body of all existing species of this parasite.