Novel Therapeutic Trends in Pneumonia: Antibiotics and Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Abstract

Pneumonia remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality. With the significant global health burden that pneumonia poses, it is essential to improve therapeutic and management strategies. The increasing emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains limits options for effective antibiotic use. New antibiotics for the treatment of pneumonia may address deficits in current antimicrobial drugs, with an ability to cover both typical, atypical, and resistant pathogens. Several of these newer drugs also have structural characteristics that allow for a decreased propensity for the development of bacterial resistance. The potential use of stem cell therapies in place of corticosteroid treatments may also offer an improvement in patient outcomes. Human mesenchymal stem cell treatments have shown efficacy and safety in treating COVID-19 induced pneumonia. Combined treatment with both stem cells and antibiotics in pneumonia in a rabbit model has also shown significantly increased efficacy in comparison to antibiotic treatment alone. This presents yet another possible route for a novel strategy in treating pneumonia, though additional future studies are necessary before clinical implementation. While pneumonia remains a major disease of concern, having newer approved antibiotics as well as novel therapies such as stem cell treatments in the pipeline offers clinicians more options in effectively treating pneumonia.