Abstract
The emergence of “superbugs” resistant to antimicrobial medications threatens populations both veterinary and human. The current crisis has come about from the widespread use of the limited number of antimicrobials available in the treatment of livestock, companion animal, and human patients. A different approach must be sought to find alternatives to or enhancements of present conventional antimicrobials. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have antimicrobial properties that may help solve this problem. In the first part of the review, we explore the various mechanisms at work across species that help explain how MSCs influence microbial survival. We then discuss the findings of recent equine, canine, and bovine studies examining MSC antimicrobial properties in which MSCs are found to have significant effects on a variety of bacterial species either alone or in combination with antibiotics. Finally, information on the influence that various antimicrobials may have on MSC function is reviewed. MSCs exert their effect directly through the secretion of various bioactive factors or indirectly through the recruitment and activation of host immune cells. MSCs may soon become a valuable tool for veterinarians treating antimicrobial resistant infections. However, a great deal of work remains for the development of optimal MSC production conditions and testing for efficacy on different indications and species.
Highlights
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing concern in all clinical populations, with few treatment options for those afflicted
In both direct contact and transwell coculture experiments, the Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) were shown to have an inhibitory effect on both bacterial species equal to or greater than the fibroblasts. They further investigated what secreted Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) could be responsible for these effects and found cystatin C, elafin, lipocalin 2, and cathelicidin to be expressed at higher levels than fibroblast controls but not β-defensin 1 found in other species. Some of these findings were partially confirmed in a similar equine study that found expression of lipocalin 2, but not β-defensin 1 in equine MSCs derived from bone marrow, endometrium, and adipose tissue (Cortés-Araya et al, 2018)
The number of studies examining MSCs as antimicrobials is quite limited in the veterinary space
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing concern in all clinical populations, with few treatment options for those afflicted. Many federal agencies around the world are moving to reduce overall use of antimicrobials in animals. MSCs as Potential Veterinary Antimicrobial the sale of medically important antimicrobials for veterinary use by changing their status to prescription drugs. Recommendations include an overall reduction of medically-important antimicrobials in the treatment of food-producing animals and the complete restriction of such antimicrobials for reasons of growth promotion or prophylactic use. If MSC antimicrobial properties can translate into viable treatment options, they could supplant much of the antimicrobials currently in use in animals. We will explore the veterinary literature regarding MSCs as antimicrobials This is an emerging field of study, we will outline possible mechanisms and examine potential synergism to be found in combination therapies as well as possible deleterious effects of such an approach
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