Globally, parasitic helminths infect over 1.5 billion people and significantly affect livestock and animal welfare, thus compromising food safety and representing a substantial global health and socioeconomic burden. These pathogens have a remarkable potential to establish chronic infections because of their ability to modulate the host’s immune response and physiological state, surviving many months to years or even decades within their hosts, despite the inhospitality of the environment. This feat is accomplished, at least in part, through the release of excretory/secretory (E/S) products, which include lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids and vesicular material released by the parasite. E/S molecules are regarded as key mediators of host-parasite interactions, making them appealing targets for developing new therapeutics and control methods.

This Methods Collection aims to share detailed standardized procedures and introduce novel approaches for isolating various helminth E/S subsets, their molecular and functional characterization, and potential therapeutic applications. We hope that this compendium will help advance the research field while also improving rigor and reproducibility.