Analyzing Macrophage Infection at the Organ Level

Abstract

Classical in vivo infection models are oftentimes associated with speculation due to the many physiological factors that are unseen or not accounted for when analyzing experimental outputs, especially when solely utilizing the classic approach of tissue-derived colony-forming unit (CFU) enumeration. To better understand the steps and natural progression of bacterial infection, the pathophysiology of individual organs with which the bacteria interact in their natural course of infection must be considered. In this case, it is not only important to isolate organs as much as possible from additional physiological processes, but to also consider the dynamics of the bacteria at the cellular level within these organs of interest. Here, we describe in detail two models, ex vivo porcine liver and spleen coperfusion and a murine infection model, and the numerous associated experimental outputs produced by these models that can be taken and used together to investigate the pathogen-host interactions within tissues in depth.

A Narrative Review of the Applications of Ex-vivo Human Liver Perfusion

“…Although ex-vivo perfusion of human organs has been widely studied in the context of organ preservation and transplantation, it has also been shown to be an invaluable tool in the development of novel models for translational pre-clinical research [12,13]. These models represent a far more ethical alternative to live animal experimentation, which allows the more accurate examination of human organ responses to noxious external stimuli.…”