Evaluation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenesis and therapeutics in military‐relevant animal infection models

Abstract

Modern combat-related injuries are often associated with acute polytrauma. As a consequence of severe combat-related injuries, a dysregulated immune response results in serious infectious complications. The gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that often causes life-threatening bloodstream, lung, bone, urinary tract, and wound infections following combat-related injuries. The rise in the number of multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa strains has elevated its importance to civilian clinicians and military medicine. Development of novel therapeutics and treatment options for P. aeruginosa infections is urgently needed. During the process of drug discovery and therapeutic testing, in vivo testing in animal models is a critical step in the bench-to-bedside approach, and required for Food and Drug Administration approval. Here, we review current and past literature with a focus on combat injuryrelevant animal models often used to understand infection development, the interplay between P. aeruginosa and the host, and evaluation of novel treatments. Specifically, this review focuses on the following animal infection models: wound, burn, bone, lung, urinary tract, foreign body, and sepsis.

Antimicrobial wound care in an ant society

“…3C) mirrors modern medical procedures for dirty wounds ( 23) . Remarkably, the primary pathogen in ant’s wounds, Pseudomonas aeruginosa , is also a leading cause of infection of combat wounds in humans, where infections can account for 45% of casualties ( 24 ). This demonstrates convergence in both the challenges of warfare and the solutions that evolved to mediate them across human and insect societies.…”

Surviving the host: Microbial metabolic genes required for growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in physiologically-relevant conditions

“…There are several in vivo models designed to mimic human infections such as wounds (Bobrov et al, 2022). Burn wound, and chronic wound/skin abscess animal models have been adapted for use with all ESKAPE pathogens (Turner et al, 2014;Pletzer et al, 2017a) and offer relatively simple primary screening methods for the establishment and/or treatment of bacterial infections.…”

Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 outer membrane vesicles-diphtheria toxoid conjugate as a vaccine candidate in a murine burn model

“…Pseudomonas aeruginosa ( P. aeruginosa ) is a gram-negative opportunistic pathogen responsible for severe infections in various body organs, such as the urinary tract, surgical wounds, burns, and the lower respiratory tract 1 . Approximately 20% of nosocomial infections caused by gram-negative bacteria are caused by P. aeruginosa , especially in burn patients 2 .…”