PENTASTOMIDS AND THE IMMUNE-RESPONSE

Pentastomids are a class of crustacean endoparasites that, as adults, parasitize the respiratory tract of vertebrates. They have evolved som e unique strategies for long-term survival in vertebrate lungs which a ppear to be equally useful in thwarting inflammatory responses in the tissues of intermediate hosts. In this article, John Riley outlines th e possible biological roles and immunological relevance of pentastomid excretory/secretory (E/S) products that may be important to parasite survival.