Establishment and Validation of Galleria mellonella as a Novel Model Organism To Study Mycobacterium abscessus Infection, Pathogenesis, and Treatment.

ABSTRACT: Treatment of Mycobacterium abscessus infections is extremely challenging due to its intrinsic resistance to most antibiotics, and research of pathogenesis is limited due to a lack of a practical in vivo model of infection. The objective of this study was to establish a simple in vivo model for M. abscessus infection, virulence, and drug testing in Galleria mellonella larvae. We inoculated larvae with M. abscessus bacteria and assessed histopathology, CFU count, and mortality with and without antibiotic treatment. We also constructed a luminescent, recombinant M. abscessus mutant, mDB158, and imaged infected larvae using the IVIS in vivo imaging system. M. abscessus proliferated and induced granuloma-like responses in infected l

SUBMITTER: Meir M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5914002 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature