Galleria mellonella: a novel infection model for screening potential anti-mycobacterial compounds against members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Drug screening models have a vital role in the development of novel antimycobacterial agents which are urgently needed to tackle drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). We recently established the larvae of the insect Galleria mellonella (greater wax moth) as a novel infection model for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Here we demonstrate its use as a rapid and reproducible screen to evaluate antimycobacterial drug efficacy using larvae infected with bioluminescent Mycobacterium bovis BCG lux. Treatment improved larval survival outcome and, with the exception of pyrazinamide, was associated with a significant reduction in in vivo mycobacterial bioluminescence over a 96 hour period compared to the untreated controls. Isoniazid and rifampicin displayed the greatest in vivo efficacy and survival outcome. Thus G. mellonella, infected with bioluminescent mycobacteria, can rapidly determine in vivo drug efficacy, and has the potential to significantly reduce and/or replace the number of animals used in TB research.
Date Issued
2019-11-20
Date Acceptance
2019-10-29
Citation
Frontiers in Microbiology, 2019, 10
ISSN
1664-302X
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Microbiology
Volume
10
Copyright Statement
© 2019 Asai, Li, Khara, Robertson, Langford and Newton. This is an
open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted,
provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that
the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic
practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply
with these terms.
open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted,
provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that
the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic
practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply
with these terms.
Sponsor
NC3Rs (National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
Grant Number
NC/R001596/1
BB/P001262/1
Subjects
0605 Microbiology
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 2630