The biology and clinical efficacy of immune cells from patients with infectious diseases
or cancer are associated with metabolic programming. Host immune- and stromal-cell
genetic and epigenetic signatures in response to the invading pathogen shape disease
pathophysiology and disease outcomes. Directly linked to the immunometabolic axis is
the role of the host microbiome, which is also discussed here in the context of productive
immune responses to lung infections. We also present host-directed therapies (HDT) as
a clinically viable strategy to refocus dysregulated immunometabolism in patients with
infectious diseases, which requires validation in early phase clinical trials as adjuncts
to conventional antimicrobial therapy. These efforts are expected to be continuously
supported by newly generated basic and translational research data to gain a better
understanding of disease pathology while devising new molecularly defined platforms
and therapeutic options to improve the treatment of patients with pulmonary infections,
particularly in relation to multidrug-resistant pathogens
