Stage-Specific Host-Helminth Immune Interactions: From Mechanisms to Vaccines and Immunomodulatory Therapies

Helminth infections are characterised by complex and dynamic interactions between developing parasites and their hosts. As helminths migrate between tissues, undergo morphological changes, mature, and begin producing eggs or larvae, they expose the host to distinct antigens and excretory-secretory products. Consequently, immune responses elicited by invasive larvae or juveniles may differ substantially from those associated with established adults, egg-producing parasites, or long-standing tissue-resident cysts. These differences can influence the development of protective immunity, parasite elimination and persistence, and tissue pathology and repair.Although helminth-induced immune responses have been extensively studied, parasite developmental stage and infection phase are not consistently integrated into experimental design or interpretation. Evidence from trematode, cestode, and nematode infections indicates that early inflammatory responses may be followed by more regulatory or immunosuppressive profiles during chronic infection. However, the timing, magnitude and mechanisms driving these transitions, their conservation across helminth taxa, and their consequences for host protection remain incompletely understood. A more systematic stage-specific approach is therefore needed to resolve how parasite development shapes immune polarisation and disease outcome.This Research Topic aims to advance understanding of how helminth developmental stage and infection phase influence host immunity. Particular attention will be given to how developmental stage, tissue localisation, parasite viability, and infection chronicity shape the quality, magnitude, and regulation of host immune responses. It will bring together studies characterising stage-specific innate and adaptive responses, identifying parasite antigens and excretory-secretory molecules that regulate these responses, and determining how immune changes affect parasite survival, host pathology, tissue repair, and protective immunity. Contributions may address questions including whether particular immune phenotypes are conserved across helminth taxa, which parasite-derived factors drive transitions between inflammatory and regulatory responses, and whether stage-specific antigens can improve vaccine design. The Research Topic will also consider the potential of helminth-derived immunomodulators for applications in allergy, autoimmune disease, and infectious disease.To gather further insights into stage-specific host–helminth interactions, this Research Topic will consider studies of human and veterinary helminth infections, as well as relevant experimental models, encompassing trematodes, cestodes, and nematodes. We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Stage-specific innate and tissue-associated immune responses, including epithelial and stromal responses, myeloid cells and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), together with adaptive T-cell, B-cell, and antibody responses across Th1-, Th2-, Th17-, and Treg immune profiles.• Developmental-stage-specific antigens, excretory-secretory products, extracellular vesicles, and other parasite-derived immunomodulators.• Protective immunity involved in parasite clearance, and mechanisms of immune evasion or persistence.• Mechanisms underlying transitions from inflammatory to regulatory or immunosuppressive immune responses during infection.• Effects of parasite development, viability, tissue localisation, and infection chronicity on host immunity and pathology.• Comparative stage-specific immunology across trematodes, cestodes, and nematodes.• Omics and systems-level approaches to characterise stage-specific host–parasite interactions, including transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and single-cell studies.• Identification of stage-specific vaccine targets and strategies for improving vaccine efficacy.• Therapeutic and biotechnology applications of helminth-derived molecules as novel immunomodulators in allergy, autoimmune disease, and infectious disease. Topic editors: Mario Rodríguez Peña, Carolina Hurtado Marcos, Wenda Di Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85977/stage-specific-host-helminth-immune-interactions-from-mechanisms-to-vaccines-and-immunomodulatory-therapies