Fig 1.
Helminth infections, eliciting robust type 2 immune responses, might contribute to Mtb disease tolerance by inhibiting type 1 and type 3 immune responses, thus reducing inflammation and pathology while maintaining bacterial burden. An alternative, but not mutually exclusive, possibility is that helminth-mediated changes to the gut microbiota shape TB outcomes. The robust regulatory capacity of the gut microbiota (via immune suppression, metabolite processing, and niche competition) is an appealing mechanism to explain the contradicting data regarding the exact role of helminth infections in TB disease progression and disease tolerance in asymptomatic infected patients. This figure was created with BioRender.com. Mtb, Mycobacterium tuberculosis; TB, tuberculosis.