Model Overview

The mouse peritonitis-sepsis model of infection is a standard method of testing antimicrobial agents. The model can also be adapted with the use of cyclophosphamide to induce neutropenia.

Two endpoints are commonly used for measuring the effect of antibiotics:

• Bacterial counts in body fluids or tissues
• Death (or survival) of the animal

The mouse peritonitis-sepsis model is an important early screening method to study in vivo effects of antibacterial and antifungal compounds and provides a natural step in testing of antibiotics in vivo before moving to larger animals or humans.

Applications

• Determination of in vivo efficacy of candidate antimicrobial drugs against clinical and antibiotic resistant strains
• Comparison of antimicrobial agents with FDA approved compounds of similar class
• Modulation of antibiotic time of addition
• Parallel assessment of PK/PD measurements, dose and dosing interval related to efficacy and the emergence of antibacterial resistance

Assay Customization

Numerous wild type, resistant, and clinical strain are available for use in the mouse model. While the model has been optimized with a representative and client-specific strains, initial pilot studies to assess bacterial inoculum and growth kinetics are often necessary. Client derived laboratory or clinical strains can be utilized in the model upon request. Variables in the model that can be customized include, route of drug administration, selection of positive control, duration of assay, animal dosing regimen, and assay endpoints assessed.

Contact us to learn more and let our microbiology and in vivo modeling experts help design and implement a study to fit your needs. Custom in vivo models are also available upon request.