1887

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Volume 67, Issue 4

Evaluation of greater wax moth larvae, , as a novel model for non-tuberculosis infections and antibiotic treatments Free

Abstract

To evaluate the suitability of larvae as an model and drug-screening tool for mycobacteria infections.

Larvae were infected using a range of inoculum sizes from a variety of rapid-growing mycobacteria, including strains of and Larval survival, internal bacterial burden and the effects of amikacin, ciprofloxacin, ethambutol, isoniazid and rifampicin treatment on larval survival were measured over 144 h. The effects of these anti-mycobacterial drugs on phagocytosis and circulating haemocyte numbers were also examined using microscopy.

Larval survival decreased after infection with and in a dose-dependent manner, but remained unaffected by . Heat-killed bacteria did not cause larval death. Where antibiotic monotherapy was efficacious, larval survival post-infection increased in a dose-dependent fashion. However, efficacy varied between different antibiotics and species of infecting mycobacteria and, apart from rifampicin, efficacy correlated poorly with the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). Combinations of antibiotics led to higher survival of infected larvae than antibiotic monotherapy. Selected antibiotic treatments that enhanced larval survival reduced the overall internal burden of infecting mycobacteria, but did not eradicate the pathogens. Administration of amikacin or ethambutol to uninfected larvae induced an initial transient increase in the numbers of circulating haemocytes and reduced the phagocytic rate of haemocytes in larvae infected with

This report demonstrates the potential of employing a wax moth larvae model for studying fast-growing mycobacteria infections, and as a cheap, effective system for initial screening of novel treatments.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): antibiotic susceptibility , Galleria mellonella , invertebrate infection model , Mycobacterium fortuitum , Mycobacterium marinum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis
© 2018 The Authors
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2018-04-01
2024-04-20
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Evaluation of greater wax moth larvae, Galleria mellonella, as a novel in vivo model for non-tuberculosis Mycobacteria infections and antibiotic treatments
J. Med. Microbiol. 67, 585 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.000696
/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.000696
/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.000696
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