{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T20:49:56Z","timestamp":1792788596310,"version":"4.5.0"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.12688\/f1000research.186809.1","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789603200000}}],"reference-count":40,"publisher":"F1000 Research Ltd","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789603200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004240","name":"Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004240","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Tanawisa"},{"name":"WPLab"},{"name":"Duke University Medical Center","id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03njmea73","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["f1000research.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["F1000Res"],"abstract":"<ns3:p>\n                    Background Helminth therapy holds considerable theoretical promise for clinical and public health applications. Unfortunately, clinical trials have often used helminths produced using methods that are both highly variable and insufficiently described in the literature, which may hinder reproducibility and troubleshooting. This study aimed to devise a method for purification of helminths that avoids mechanical filtration, which may damage some organisms. In particular, the goal was to devise a method to separate large quantities of cysticercoids of the cestode species\n                    <ns3:italic>Hymenolepis diminuta<\/ns3:italic>\n                    (HDCs), a process that has not been described previously but that would be necessary before HDCs can be used clinically. Methods The physical size and behavior of HDCs in solution were assessed and used to create a patented washing device. Results The cross-sectional area of HDCs varied over a 10-fold range, from approximately 0.06 to 0.6 mm\n                    <ns3:sup>2<\/ns3:sup>\n                    , dependent in large part upon the host. That cross-sectional area correlated in a linear fashion with the steady-state speed of HDCs while falling through solution, which varied over a 5-fold range, from approximately 0.4 mm\/s to 2.0 mm\/s in the solution tested. These parameters were used to develop a washing device that utilized a variable flow speed dictated by changing column diameter and an upward flowing column of liquid that effectively and simultaneously suspended HDCs of various sizes in a wash solution. Conclusions This study describes a detailed method of purification of HDCs, organisms that could potentially be used for helminth therapy. It is hoped that government agencies or non-profit organizations can use such technology to conduct rigorous clinical trials, potentially leading to the production of reasonably priced therapeutics.\n                  <\/ns3:p>","DOI":"10.12688\/f1000research.186809.2","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T11:04:07Z","timestamp":1789643047000},"page":"1334","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/f1000research.crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Isolation of Hymenolepis diminuta cysticercoids for therapeutic use: The need for fully disclosed methodology"],"prefix":"10.12688","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Aarushi","family":"Venkatakrishnan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Surgery Durham NC 27710 Duke University Medical Center"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chelsea","family":"Swanson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Surgery Durham 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Serv."},{"key":"ref43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17632\/dmht2t9tdr.3","article-title":"Helminth purification data v1.","volume":"V3","author":"W Parker","year":"2026","journal-title":"Mendeley Data."}],"container-title":["F1000Research"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/15-1334\/v2\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/15-1334\/v2\/pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/15-1334\/v2\/iparadigms","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]],"date-time":"2026-10-16T06:09:10Z","timestamp":1792130950000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/15-1334\/v2"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]]},"references-count":40,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/f1000research.186809.2","relation":{"has-version":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.12688\/f1000research.186809.1","asserted-by":"subject"}],"has-review":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.5256\/f1000research.209925.r526356","asserted-by":"subject"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.5256\/f1000research.209925.r522169","asserted-by":"subject"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.5256\/f1000research.209925.r526356","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.5256\/f1000research.209925.r522169","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["2046-1402"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2046-1402","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]]},"assertion":[{"value":"Indexed","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/15-1334\/v2#article-reports","order":0,"name":"referee-status","label":"Referee status","group":{"name":"current-referee-status","label":"Current Referee Status"}},{"value":"10.5256\/f1000research.209925.r522169, Venkataramana Kandi, Pratima Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, Telangana, 09 Oct 2026, version 2, indexed","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/15-1334\/v2#referee-response-522169","order":0,"name":"referee-response-522169","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"10.5256\/f1000research.206180.r510374, Nikhilesh Joardar, Dr Vishwanath Karad MIT World Peace University, Pune, Maharashtra, 22 Aug 2026, version 1, 2 approved with reservations","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/15-1334\/v1#referee-response-510374","order":1,"name":"referee-response-510374","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"<b>William Parker<\/b>; \n<i>Posted: 03 Sep 2026<\/i>; We thank the editors of F1000Research for facilitating the rapid and extremely helpful review of our manuscript. We thank both Professor Kandi and Professor Joardar for their very kind evaluations of our manuscript and for their insightful comments. Both reviewers were very interested in what effects the washing process might have on the clinical efficacy of the helminths, and we agree this is a very important issue. We have addressed these and other comments from both professors as discussed in more detail below. The comments from the reviewers are noted in bold, with our responses in plain font.  \n<b>Reviewer 2:<\/b> \n<b>Professor Nikhilesh Joardar<\/b>, Dr Vishwanath Karad MIT World Peace University, Pune, Maharashtra, India&nbsp; &nbsp;  \n<b>Where are the quantitative microbiological data demonstrating that washing actually removes bacterial contamination?<\/b>  This is an incredibly important topic that was not covered in the original manuscript. We thank Professor Joardar for asking about this issue, which will doubtless be of interest to the readers. In the revised manuscript, we point out that even a quick washing procedure is sufficient to remove the vast majority of bacteria so that the HDCs pass current FDA standards. This is based on previous work that is cited in the revised manuscript. However, since the studies described in this manuscript were not performed using sterile reagents and equipment, further studies will be required to know to what extent this device can be used to make preparations are or are not sterile. As we point out in the revised manuscript, sterility will be very important for long term storage of the organisms. If indeed some bacteria adhere to the HDCs, this is an issue that will have to be addressed.  \n<b>What is the HDC recovery\/yield and does recovery remain unbiased across the substantial size distribution of HDCs?<\/b>  None of the HDCs are lost during the washing process. We did find that more crowding of HDCs in the device can result in clumping of the HDCs, so there are limits to the capacity of the device. This information has been added to the revised manuscript. At the same time, the yield from each beetle has, in our 15 years of experience, always been highly variable for reasons that are not understood. The beetles are \u201cloaded\u201d when they are deprived of moisture for about two days and then exposed to moistened fecal material containing eggs. This is apparently a highly variable process, and is difficult to control. However, grain beetles are easy to produce in mass quantities, so this is not an anticipated limitation of the use of HDCs for therapy. &nbsp;  \n<b>Were beetles treated as the biological experimental unit, or were individual HDCs treated as independent observations despite multiple HDCs originating from the same host?<\/b>  As described in the revised document, the answer to this question depends on the experiment. If we were examining HDC size as a function of the host, then the beetle was treated as the biological experimental unit. However, for all other experiments, HDCs were treated as the experimental unit.  \n<b>Why was an unwashed control unnecessary for the viability experiment, and how can 100% excystation after washing be interpreted without establishing baseline viability? <\/b>  We make it clear in the revised manuscript that the purpose of testing viability after washing was to ensure that the washing process did not injure the organisms to the point that they could not excyst. By that measure, 100% of all organisms tested (absolute measure) after washing were still viable. Since viability cannot be greater than 100 percent in absolute terms, we confirmed that the washing process does not decrease viability. That being said, as mentioned by both reviewers, we do not know if the washing process affects the therapeutic benefits of the organisms.  \n<b>What evidence supports preservation of therapeutic\/immunomodulatory potency rather than merely short-term excystation?<\/b>  This is a very interesting and incredibly important point, also raised by Professor Kandi. Please see point 4b raised by Professor Kandi for a detailed discussion of this issue.","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/15-1334\/v2#referee-comment-17085","order":2,"name":"referee-comment-17085","label":"Referee Comment","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"10.5256\/f1000research.209925.r526356, Prof. Dr. Friederike Ebner, Department of Molecular Life Sciences, Chair of Infection Pathogenesis, School of Life Science, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Freising, 16 Oct 2026, version 2, indexed","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/15-1334\/v2#referee-response-526356","order":3,"name":"referee-response-526356","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"This work was funded by the employers of the authors, particularly Duke University Medical Center, Tanawisa, WPLab and the Czech Academy of Sciences. Coauthors GA and WP are CEOs of Tanawisa (for profit) and WPLab (nonprofit), respectively.","order":4,"name":"grant-information","label":"Grant Information"},{"value":"This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.","order":0,"name":"copyright-info","label":"Copyright"}]}}