Host-informed therapies for the treatment of pneumococcal pneumonia

Bharathi Sundaresh; Shuying Xu; Brian Noonan; Michael K Mansour; John M Leong; Tim van Opijnen

doi:10.1016/j.molmed.2021.07.008

Host-informed therapies for the treatment of pneumococcal pneumonia

Trends Mol Med. 2021 Oct;27(10):971-989. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2021.07.008. Epub 2021 Aug 8.

Authors

Bharathi Sundaresh¹, Shuying Xu², Brian Noonan³, Michael K Mansour⁴, John M Leong⁵, Tim van Opijnen⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA.
² Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; Graduate Program in Immunology, Tufts Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Stuart B. Levy Center for Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴ Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; Stuart B. Levy Center for Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ Department of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA; Stuart B. Levy Center for Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 34376327
DOI: 10.1016/j.molmed.2021.07.008

Abstract

Over the past two decades, traditional antimicrobial strategies have lost efficacy due to a rapid rise in antibiotic resistance and limited success in developing new antibiotics. Rather than relying on therapeutics solely targeting the bacterial pathogen, therapies are emerging that simultaneously focus on host responses. Here, we describe the most promising 'host-informed therapies' (HITs) in two categories: those that aid patients with fully functional immune systems, and those that aid patients with perturbed immune processes. Using Streptococcus pneumoniae, the leading cause of bacterial pneumonia, as a case study, we show HITs as an attractive option for supplementing infection management. However, to broaden their applicability and design new strategies, targeted research and clinical trials will be essential.

Keywords: host-directed therapies; host-informed; immunity; infectious disease; pneumonia.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
Humans
Pneumonia, Pneumococcal* / drug therapy
Streptococcus pneumoniae

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents