IntroductionMucosal surfaces, such as the intestine, are constantly exposed to the external environment, and development of a balanced immune response is essential to prevent pathogen invasion while controlling excessive or unnecessary inflammation. Notably, macrophages, which constitute a significant proportion of the leukocytes within the gut, serve as initiators to polarize immune effector or regulatory responses following a variety of infectious or inflammatory stimuli. RELMα is a secreted protein that is most commonly associated with alternatively activated macrophages (AAMac), which are recruited in T helper type (Th) 2 cytokine-dominated environments, such as helminth infection and allergy. [4][5][6] In Th2 cytokine-biased immune responses, RELMα exhibited critical immunomodulatory functions. [7][8][9] In contrast, studies by Rothenberg and colleagues uncovered a pro-inflammatory function for RELMα in mouse models of inflammatory bowel disease. 10,11 Our recent study focused on examining the role of RELMα in bacterial infection-induced inflammation.

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