结核分枝杆菌感染动物模型的研究进展

人类结核病位居单一病原引起死亡的严重传染病之首,结核分枝杆菌是其主要病原.尽管结核分枝杆菌可引起许多种动物感染并患病,但人类是其主要宿主.动物模型作为研究人类疾病的标准化工具,虽然不能完全模拟人类结核病的整个过程,但可成为研究结核病的有用工具,有助于研究其发病机制、治疗过程及宿主对病原的免疫病理学反应.由于不同种类动物...     

结核分枝杆菌感染实验模型

结核分枝杆菌是引起人结核病的主要病原,全世界约有1/3人口感染结核分枝杆菌。尽管该病原可感染并引起许多动物疾病,但人类是其中心宿主。为研究结核分枝杆菌的致病机理及宿主对本病原的保护性和免疫病理学反应,选择合适的动物模型非常必要。本文阐述了结核病研究中常用的实验模型及各种模型的优缺点。实验模型的合理应用将促进我们对结核病的认识,从中获取的资料将有助于我们发现更好的预防和治疗方案。     

耐药结核分枝杆菌潜伏-复发感染动物模型的研究进展

潜伏结核感染(latent tuberculosis infection,LTBI)复发是新发结核病的主要来源,其中耐药结核病所占比例较大,使耐药LTBI复发的防控成为结核病研究的重点。耐药结核分枝杆菌潜伏-复发感染动物模型是开展耐药结核病防控相关机制研究、抗耐药结核分枝杆菌药物和疫苗研究的基础。目前耐药结核分枝杆菌感染动物模型缺乏,而已有的结核分枝杆菌标准株H37Rv潜伏-复发感染模型存在缺陷,如小鼠模型的潜伏期荷菌量偏高、复发期变异大,而猴模型的潜伏期和复发期不可预测。模型的可控性差使其应用困难,且缺乏可用的免疫学评价指标,导致远期复发无法预测。因此,基于现有H37Rv潜伏-复发感染动物模型的制备方法,展望耐药结核分枝杆菌潜伏-复发感染动物模型可能存在的缺陷,通过选用新的抑菌剂和诱导剂,制备有稳定潜伏期、潜伏时长适中、复发起点和复发水平变异小的动物模型,是未来耐药结核分枝杆菌潜伏-复发感染动物模型研究的方向。     

结核分枝杆菌感染的动物模型

复制结核分枝杆菌感染的动物模型是进行结核病研究的基础。本文分别对小鼠、豚鼠、兔和非人灵长类动物结核模型的特点及其应用进行综述,并指出慢性持续性感染模型是结核动物模型研究的重点。     

新型结核病疫苗及其评价方法的研究进展

结核病是由结核分枝杆菌感染引起的慢性传染病,严重危害人类健康,卡介苗对儿童粟粒性结核和结核性脑膜炎保护效果较好,但对成人肺结核保护效果却不确定。过去十余年,众多研究人员一直致力于新型结核病疫苗的研发,但至今尚未成功。结核病的致病和免疫机制还不完全清楚,缺乏可以预测临床保护效果的指标和动物模型,动物实验结果常与临床试验结果不符,临床试验耗时漫长、成本昂贵、且需要大量结核病患者,这些都严重阻碍了结核病疫苗的研发。近年来,研究人员研发了一些新方法进行结核病疫苗临床前评价,从而缩短了进入临床试验的时间,加快了结核病疫苗的发展。综述了新型结核病疫苗的研究进展及其保护力评价方法,特别是临床前评价新方法。     

结核病研究中的非人灵长类感染模型

许多种类的动物都被用于结核病的研究,每一种动物都有其优缺点,非人灵长类对结核分枝杆菌易感,通过气溶胶途径感染能发展成类似人类的疾病,包括肺的病变,疾病的不同进展过程,以及免疫特征。在体内和体外能表现T淋巴细胞的增殖反应,能通过接种BCG疫苗获得保护。因此,非人灵长类感染结核病的感染模型在研究结核病感染和免疫,探讨结核病感染过程中,结核菌是怎样摧毁机体的免疫系统;在评价肺结核病疫苗的有效性方面,是许多常规动物模型所不可替代的。然而,目前世界上对于结核病感染非人灵长类动物模型的研究报道较少,可利用的数据也较少,先进…     

基于蛋白质组芯片的结核分枝杆菌系统生物学研究进展

近些年全球结核病疫情愈发严重,耐药性结核病使其雪上加霜。一个重要原因是结核病新药的匮乏以及结核分枝杆菌相关基础研究的不足。因此迫切需要开发新的技术以促进结核病系统生物学基础研究,并在此基础上研究新机制,发现新靶标,开发新药物。结核分枝杆菌功能蛋白质组芯片的出现旨在促进结核病相关研究工作。考虑到结核分枝杆菌高毒力、复制周期长和需要在生物安全三级实验室中开展研究等特点和难点,该工具为结核病相关研究人员提供了一个强有力的武器。目前这一技术手段的应用已经使我们对结核分枝杆菌-宿主相互作用、小分子-蛋白结合以及抗生素耐药性机制等关键生物过程有了更深入的了解。为了更好地帮助同行了解这一有效的工具,本文综述了结核分枝杆菌功能蛋白组芯片的几种主要应用,期望同行专家能更好地将其应用于结核病相关的基础研究中。     

结核疫苗研究进展

结核病是由结核分枝杆菌感染引起的传染病,是危害人类健康的主要传染病之一。目前被广泛应用的卡介苗对于新生儿和儿童的严重播散性疾病有很好的保护效果,但对于成人活动性结核病的有效性,却存在很大的争议。近年来,人们一直努力研发新疫苗并且已经取得了一些成果。这些新型结核疫苗在临床测试中的结果是非常令人兴奋和鼓舞人心的。但是,我们仍需继续探索新型结核疫苗。     

二代测序技术在结核分枝杆菌研究中的应用进展

结核病是由结核分枝杆菌引起的全球第二大传染病。二代测序技术为从基因组水平研究结核分枝杆菌提供了重要的研究方法。本文从结核病流行病学、结核分枝杆菌耐药和进化及相关生物信息学等方面,介绍二代测序技术在结核分枝杆菌研究中的应用进展。     

斑马鱼-海分枝杆菌模型研究对结核病致病机理的启示

全世界约三分之一的人口感染过结核分枝杆菌,其导致的结核病仍然是全球公共卫生的严重威胁。结核菌是典型的胞内致病菌。结核菌的致病性与其成功逃避和利用宿主免疫应答等密切相关。控制结核病需要深入了解致病菌和宿主之间的相互作用。不同的动物模型是揭示致病菌-宿主相互作用的关键。海分枝杆菌-斑马鱼模型是最近才得以发展并获得了不少新见解的研究系统之一。本文总结了该模型揭示的海分枝杆菌毒力因子Erp、Esx-1、pmiA、Mel1和Mel2、KasB等,以及该模型的优缺点。这些结果为大动物模型研究和深入了解结核分枝杆菌感染人体的致病机理提供了线索。     

The pig: a model for human infectious diseases

An animal model to study human infectious diseases should accurately reproduce the various aspects of disease. Domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) are closely related to humans in terms of anatomy, genetics and physiology, and represent an excellent animal model to study various microbial infectious diseases. Indeed, experiments in pigs are much more likely to be predictive of therapeutic treatments in humans than experiments in rodents. In this review, we highlight the numerous advantages of the pig model for infectious disease research and vaccine development and document a few examples of human microbial infectious diseases for which the use of pigs as animal models has contributed to the acquisition of new knowledge to improve both animal and human health.     

An in vivo platform for rapid high-throughput antitubercular drug discovery

Treatment of tuberculosis, like other infectious diseases, is increasingly hindered by the emergence of drug resistance. Drug discovery efforts would be facilitated by facile screening tools that incorporate the complexities of human disease. Mycobacterium marinum-infected zebrafish larvae recapitulate key aspects of tuberculosis pathogenesis and drug treatment. Here, we develop a model for rapid in vivo drug screening using fluorescence-based methods for serial quantitative assessment of drug efficacy and toxicity. We provide proof-of-concept that both traditional bacterial-targeting antitubercular drugs and newly identified host-targeting drugs would be discovered through the use of this model. We demonstrate the model's utility for the identification of synergistic combinations of antibacterial drugs and demonstrate synergy between bacterial- and host-targeting compounds. Thus, the platform can be used to identify new antibacterial agents and entirely new classes of drugs that thwart infection by targeting host pathways. The methods developed here should be widely applicable to small-molecule screens for other infectious and noninfectious diseases.     

Macaque models of human infectious disease

Macaques have served as models for more than 70 human infectious diseases of diverse etiologies, including a multitude of agents-bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, prions. The remarkable diversity of human infectious diseases that have been modeled in the macaque includes global, childhood, and tropical diseases as well as newly emergent, sexually transmitted, oncogenic, degenerative neurologic, potential bioterrorism, and miscellaneous other diseases. Historically, macaques played a major role in establishing the etiology of yellow fever, polio, and prion diseases. With rare exceptions (Chagas disease, bartonellosis), all of the infectious diseases in this review are of Old World origin. Perhaps most surprising is the large number of tropical (16), newly emergent (7), and bioterrorism diseases (9) that have been modeled in macaques. Many of these human diseases (e.g., AIDS, hepatitis E, bartonellosis) are a consequence of zoonotic infection. However, infectious agents of certain diseases, including measles and tuberculosis, can sometimes go both ways, and thus several human pathogens are threats to nonhuman primates including macaques. Through experimental studies in macaques, researchers have gained insight into pathogenic mechanisms and novel treatment and vaccine approaches for many human infectious diseases, most notably acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which is caused by infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Other infectious agents for which macaques have been a uniquely valuable resource for biomedical research, and particularly vaccinology, include influenza virus, paramyxoviruses, flaviviruses, arenaviruses, hepatitis E virus, papillomavirus, smallpox virus, Mycobacteria, Bacillus anthracis, Helicobacter pylori, Yersinia pestis, and Plasmodium species. This review summarizes the extensive past and present research on macaque models of human infectious disease.     

Nanobead-based interventions for the treatment and prevention of tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is one of the most devastating bacterial diseases to affect humans. M. tuberculosis is a robust pathogen that has evolved the capacity to survive and grow inside macrophage phagosomes. A cocktail of antibiotics has long been successfully used against M. tuberculosis but is becoming less effective owing to the emergence of multidrug resistance. The only available preventive vaccine, using Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin, is considered to be ineffective against adult pulmonary TB, the most prevalent form of the disease. Here, we review the potential use of biodegradable nanoparticle-based anti-TB drug delivery systems that have been shown to be more effective against M. tuberculosis in animal models than conventional antibiotic treatment regimens. This technology also has substantial potential for vaccination and other therapeutic strategies against TB and other infectious diseases.     

The guinea pig as a model of infectious diseases

The words 'guinea pig' are synonymous with scientific experimentation, but much less is known about this species than many other laboratory animals. This animal model has been used for approximately 200 y and was the first to be used in the study of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and diphtheria. Today the guinea pig is used as a model for a number of infectious bacterial diseases, including pulmonary, sexually transmitted, ocular and aural, gastrointestinal, and other infections that threaten the lives of humans. Most studies on the immune response to these diseases, with potential therapies and vaccines, have been conducted in animal models (for example, mouse) that may have less similarity to humans because of the large number of immunologic reagents available for these other species. This review presents some of the diseases for which the guinea pig is regarded as the premier model to study infections because of its similarity to humans with regard to symptoms and immune response. Furthermore, for diseases in which guinea pigs share parallel pathogenesis of disease with humans, they are potentially the best animal model for designing treatments and vaccines. Future studies of immune regulation of these diseases, novel therapies, and preventative measures require the development of new immunologic reagents designed specifically for the guinea pig.     

Lessons from experimental Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the cause of enormous human morbidity and mortality each year. Although this bacterium can infect and cause disease in many animals, humans are the natural host. For the purposes of studying the pathogenesis of M. tuberculosis, as well as the protective and immunopathologic host responses against this pathogen, suitable animal models must be used. However, modeling the human infection and disease in animals can be difficult, and interpreting the data from animal models must be done carefully. In this paper, the animal models of tuberculosis are discussed, as well as the limitations and advantages of various models. In particular, the lessons we have learned about tuberculosis from the mouse models are highlighted. The careful and thoughtful use of animal models is essential to furthering our understanding of M. tuberculosis, and this knowledge will enhance the discovery of improved treatment and prevention strategies.     

The use of recombinant human interleukin-2 in treating infectious diseases

Data from animal models indicate that interleukin-2 is potentially valuable in the treatment of a variety of infectious diseases of viral, fungal, protozoal, bacterial, and mycobacterial origin. The role of interleukin-2 in resistance to infection with human immunodeficiency virus or Mycobacterium Ieprae (the causative agent of leprosy) has recently been studied in detail. Data from animal models and clinical trials indicate that relatively low doses of interleukin-2 effectively stabilize or reverse the course of these infections. The recent characterization of Thi and Th2 helper T cells, and their relationship to the control of infectious diseases, are revealing the mechanisms involved in producing disease. Increased understanding of these mechanisms may help extend interleukin-2 therapy to other clinical applications.     

Local ischemia and increased expression of vascular endothelial growth factor following ocular dissemination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The pathogenesis of intraocular tuberculosis remains poorly understood partly due to the lack of adequate animal models that accurately simulate human disease. Using a recently developed model of ocular tuberculosis following aerosol infection of guinea pigs with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, we studied the microbiological, histological, and clinical features of intraocular tuberculosis infection. Viable tubercle bacilli were cultivated from all eyes by Day 56 after aerosol delivery of ～200 bacilli to guinea pig lungs. Choroidal tuberculous granulomas showed reduced oxygen tension, as evidenced by staining with the hypoxia-specific probe pimonidazole, and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was detected in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and photoreceptors. Fundoscopic examination of M. tuberculosis-infected guinea pig eyes revealed altered vascular architecture and chorioretinal hemorrhage by Day 56 after infection. This model may be useful in further elucidating the pathogenesis of ocular tuberculosis, as well as in developing tools for diagnosis and assessment of antituberculosis treatment responses in the eye.