| Consider evolved principles of host immunity when setting criteria for chemical properties and when selecting targets of antimicrobial agents that will be used to treat contagious, life-threatening diseases (e.g., desirability of multiple targets, potential acceptability of low-level genotoxicity) |
Identify and target pathways in the pathogen that allow it to evade host immunity or resist or repair the damage it inflicts |
Bolster host immunity |
| Design antimicrobial agents that mimic or reproduce host immune chemistry (e.g., generation of reactive nitrogen species from nitroimidazoles) |
Identify and target mechanisms of phenotypic tolerance displayed by bacteria in response to conditions in the host, including host immunity |
Target pathways in the host that counteract effective host immunity or allow pathogens to evade it |
| Use elements of host immunity as antimicrobial agents (e.g., mAbs; members of the commensal microbiota) |
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Suppress immunopathology |
| Use elements of immunity to help deliver antimicrobial agents (e.g., mAb–drug conjugates) |
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Use antimicrobial agents as tool compounds to identify new mechanisms of host immunity |
