**4. Role of dendritic cells in parasitic infection**

In parasitic infections is difficult to generalize about the mechanisms of antiparasitic immunity because there is a great variety of different parasites that have different morphology and reside in different locations of tissues and hosts during their life cycles [49]. For this reason, we will talk about the role of dendritic cells in protozoa and helminths infection, two of the main parasites of medical importance for human health.

DCs have the capacity to recognize different molecules in the surface of parasites and are efficient phagocytes; thus, several intracellular parasites reside inside DCs. Once DCs phagocytose intracellular parasites, they can exert their microbicidal capacities, although it has been shown that they are not as efficient in the

destruction of microorganisms as other phagocytes such as macrophages and neutrophils. Once internalized, DCs process antigens for presentation to T cells [50].
