Immunity to Helminths: where inflammation is anti- inflammatory

Imunity to Helminths:  where inflammation is anti-inflammatory infection with metazoan parasites elicits a characteristic type 2 immune response that is highly distinct from the type 1 response to microbial pathogens.  Increasing evidence suggests that type 2 immunity has critical roles not only in parasite control, but wound healing and metabolism.  The Allen lab is particularly interested in macrophages, which are immune effector cells at the heart of both type 1 and type 2 immunity.  While investigating unique macrophage functions during parasitic nematode infection, the lab discovered that the type 2 immune response induces macrophages to expand in number at the site of infection.  The process is fundamentally different from the response to microbial pathogens in which macrophages come into the tissues via the blood. 

Relevant citations:
Jenkins, S. J. , Ruckerl, D. , Cook, P. C., Jones, L. H., Finkelman, F. D., van Rooijen, N. , MacDonald, A. S. , & Allen, J. E. Local macrophage proliferation, rather than recruitment from the blood, is a signature of TH2 inflammation. Science, 332(6035), 1284-8.
Allen, J. E. , & Maizels, R. M. Diversity and dialogue in immunity to helminths. Nature Reviews immunology, 11(6), 375-88.
Allen, J. E., & Wynn, T. A. Evolution of Th2 immunity: a rapid repair response to tissue destructive pathogens. PLoS Pathogens, 7(5), e1002003.