Skin and Wound Infection Models to Test Host-Pathogen Interactions and Evaluate Topical Antimicrobial Treatments

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Infectious Diseases
• Dermatology

Background:

• Diverse infection models (cell lines, organoids, animal studies) exist, varying in complexity and relevance to human in vivo conditions.
• Selecting appropriate infection models is critical for accurately assessing antimicrobial and antiseptic efficacy and tolerability.
• Ex vivo human skin models represent a valuable tool for bridging the gap between in vitro and in vivo studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present protocols for utilizing ex vivo human skin as an infection model.
• To detail methods for testing antimicrobial formulations and antiseptics on ex vivo human skin.
• To establish a reliable model for evaluating therapeutic interventions against microbial infections.

Main Methods:

• Development of protocols for creating bacterial and viral infections on ex vivo human skin.
• Establishment of methods for the extraction and quantification of microorganisms from infected skin.
• Implementation of techniques for microscopical visualization of ex vivo skin and wound infections.

Main Results:

• Successfully established reproducible bacterial and viral infection models on ex vivo human skin.
• Quantified microbial loads to assess the efficacy of antimicrobial and antiseptic treatments.
• Visualized infection dynamics and treatment effects using microscopy.

Conclusions:

• Ex vivo human skin models provide a relevant and reproducible platform for evaluating antimicrobial and antiseptic agents.
• These models facilitate the meaningful translation of findings to human in vivo scenarios.
• The presented protocols enable robust assessment of therapeutic efficacy and tolerability in a clinically relevant context.