In vivo pharmacodynamic modeling for drug discovery

Abstract

The use of animal infections models to assess antimicrobial efficacy is hardly a novel science. This practice dates back many decades, and, as might be expected, an exorbitant number of infection models in many different species have been employed over that time. Some of the more popular infection models include the following: thigh infection, lung infection, meningitis, sepsis, and urinary tract infection. Entire textbooks have been devoted to describing these models methodologically, and to do so again is not within the scope of this chapter. The purpose of this chapter, however, is to discuss some of the important concepts involved in developing any one of these models of infection to create meaningful data that can then be used to better characterize antimicrobials pharmacodynamically and ultimately to understand how these findings can translate to the clinic.