The research prospect of animal models of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis latent-relapse infection
ZHAN Lingjun1, LU Jinbiao2, TANG Jun1, CHEN Baowen2, QIN Chuan1
1. Institute of Laboratory Animal Science, Peking Union Medical College; Chinese Academy of Medical Science (CAMS) & Comparative Medicine Center; Key Laboratory of Human Disease Animal Model, State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100021, China; 2. Division of tuberculosis vaccines, National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, Beijing 100050, China
Abstract：The new cases of tuberculosis mainly come from the relapse of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), and the growing proportion of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (DRMtb) among LTBI makes DRLTBI the key point of tuberculosis prevention and control. The animal model of DRMtb latentrelapse infection is the foundation for basic research, anti-DR-Mtb drug development and vaccine evaluation. However, the lack of a DR-Mtb animal model today presents a hurdle. The animal model of latent-relapse infection based on drug-sensitive strain H37Rv still has concerns such as high bacterial loads in the latent phase and large variation in the relapse phase in mice, and unpredicted latent and relapse phases in monkeys. These concerns limit its application. Furthermore, the lack of immune parameters in the evaluation makes the forward relapse unpredicted. The strategies and research progresses on the improvement of the current models are reviewed in this paper.
