Use of Galleria mellonella as an Animal Model for Studying the Antimicrobial Activity of Bacteriophages with Potential Use in Phage Therapy

Abstract

Interest in phage therapy has increased in the last decade, and animal models have become essential in this field. The larval stage of the wax moth, Galleria mellonella, represents an easy-to-handle model. The larvae have an innate immune response and survive at 37 °C, which is ideal for infection and antimicrobial studies with bacteriophages. In this chapter, we describe the procedures used to study the antimicrobial activity of bacteriophages in a G. mellonella infection model.

Keywords: Animal model; Antimicrobial; Bacteriophage; Galleria mellonella; Infection.