Biological macromolecules as immunomodulators

The capacity to interfere in the immune response has long been proven to be one of the cornerstones for human health. The stimulation of the immune system has played an important role in the control of several diseases as demonstrated by the amount of scientific evidences supporting the importance of vaccination in the control of the spread of diseases and reduction of associated death rates. Similarly, while acute inflammatory process plays an important role in homeostasis, the development of strategies to suppress the immune response as allowed for the control/amelioration of an array of pathologies from asthma to inflammatory bowel disease. Biomacromolecules have long since been considered as potential modulators of the immune response with the current chapter focusing on compiling, in a comprehensive manner, the currently available information on this topic focusing on three major classes of compounds: lipids, proteins, and polysaccharides.