Therapeutic strategies in pneumonia: going beyond antibiotics.
Dysregulation of the innate immune system drives lung injury and its systemic sequelae due to breakdown of vascular barrier function, harmful hyperinflammation and microcirculatory failure, which contribute to the unfavourable outcome of patients with severe pneumonia. A variety of promising therapeutic targets have been identified and numerous innovative therapeutic approaches demonstrated to improve lung injury in experimental preclinical studies. However, at present specific preventive or curative strategies for the treatment of lung failure in pneumonia in addition to antibiotics are still missing. The aim of this mini-review is to give a short overview of some, but not all, adjuvant therapeutic strategies for pneumonia and its most important complications, sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome, and briefly discuss future perspectives.
Dept of Infectious Diseases and Pulmonary Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Holger
H
Müller-Redetzky
Dept of Infectious Diseases and Pulmonary Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Jasmin
J
Lienau
Dept of Infectious Diseases and Pulmonary Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Norbert
N
Suttorp
Dept of Infectious Diseases and Pulmonary Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany martin.witzenrath@charite.de.
Martin
M
Witzenrath
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000187:drug effects; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D007155:Immunologic Factors