Pneumonia caused by bacteria

Bacterial pneumonia is an infection of the lungs which, if untreated, can progress towards serious conditions leading to respiratory failure or death. In particular people with underlying chronic diseases are at a higher risk of developing severe pneumonia.

We can induce acute and chronic pneumonia using major pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. This infection has been shown to reproduce hallmarks of human pneumonia with clinical symptoms, bacterial distribution and persistence, and lung inflammation. The experimental models are highly controlled and standardized and suitable for in-vivo efficacy testing of therapeutic regimens. Based on our excellent expertise in inhalation of substances and lung function measurement, our pneumonia models can be used in particular for testing of inhaled drugs or formulations.

• Survival and pathology score
• In-life assessment of lung function: e.g. airway response to methacholine exposure
  
• Bronchoalveolar lavage: total and differential cell counts by flow cytometry, cytokine levels by ELISA or MSD
  
• Bacterial load: in lung, dissemination (e.g. spleen, liver, kidney) 
• Histology imaging: conventional stainings, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and pathology scoring
  
• Lung tissue analysis: RNA isolation for gene expression analysis, cytokine levels by ELISA or MSD