What’s the connection between gluten tolerance and hookworms?

In a small Australian study, hookworms induced gluten tolerance in adult volunteers with celiac disease.  This research followed eight celiac disease patients who were on a gluten-free diet. At the beginning of the study, researchers infected them with hookworms. (Hookworms suppress the body’s immune response, so their hosts do not get sick as a result of harboring the parasite.) The patients’ gut tissue showed a subsequent drop in T-cells that provoke reaction to gluten and an increase in T-cells that reduce inflammation.
Read more about this unusual study.