The BALB/c Mouse Model for the Evaluation of Therapies to Treat Infections with Aerosolized Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of the disease melioidosis, has been isolated from the environment in 45 countries. The treatment of melioidosis is complex, requiring lengthy antibiotic regimens, which can result in the relapse of the disease following treatment cessation. It is important that novel therapies to treat infections with B. pseudomallei be assessed in appropriate animal models, and discussions regarding the different protocols used between laboratories are critical. A 'deep dive' was held in October 2020 focusing on the use of the BALB/c mouse model and the inhalational route of infection to evaluate new antibiotic therapies.

An O-Antigen Glycoconjugate Vaccine Produced Using Protein Glycan Coupling Technology Is Protective in an Inhalational Rat Model of Tularemia.

There is a requirement for an efficacious vaccine to protect people against infection from Francisella tularensis, the etiological agent of tularemia. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of F. tularensis is suboptimally protective against a parenteral lethal challenge in mice. To develop a more efficacious subunit vaccine, we have used a novel biosynthetic technique of protein glycan coupling technology (PGCT) that exploits bacterial N-linked glycosylation to recombinantly conjugate F. tularensis O-antigen glycans to the immunogenic carrier protein Pseudomonas aeruginosa exoprotein A (ExoA). Previously, we demonstrated that an ExoA glycoconjugate with two glycosylation sequons was capable of providing significant protection to mice against a challenge with a low-virulence strain of F. tularensis. Here, we have generated a more heavily glycosylated conjugate vaccine and evaluated its efficacy in a Fischer 344 rat model of tularemia. We demonstrate that this glycoconjugate vaccine protected rats against disease and the lethality of an inhalational challenge with F. tularensis Schu S4. Our data highlights the potential of this biosynthetic approach for the creation of next-generation tularemia subunit vaccines.

Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (co-trimoxazole) prophylaxis is effective against acute murine inhalational melioidosis and glanders.

Burkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of the disease melioidosis, which is prevalent in tropical countries and is intractable to a number of antibiotics. In this study, the antibiotic co-trimoxazole (trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole) was assessed for the post-exposure prophylaxis of experimental infection in mice with B. pseudomallei and its close phylogenetic relative Burkholderia mallei, the causative agent of glanders. Co-trimoxazole was effective against an inhalational infection with B. pseudomallei or B. mallei. However, oral co-trimoxazole delivered twice daily did not eradicate infection when administered from 6h post exposure for 14 days or 21 days, since infected and antibiotic-treated mice succumbed to infection following relapse or immunosuppression. These data highlight the utility of co-trimoxazole for prophylaxis both of B. pseudomallei and B. mallei and the need for new approaches for the treatment of persistent bacterial infection.