Interleukin-13-Overexpressing Mice Represent an Advanced Preclinical Model for Detecting the Distribution of Antimycobacterial Drugs within Centrally Necrotizing Granulomas

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis-harboring granuloma with a necrotic center surrounded by a fibrous capsule is the hallmark of tuberculosis (TB). For a successful treatment, antibiotics need to penetrate these complex structures to reach their bacterial targets. Hence, animal models reflecting the pulmonary pathology of TB patients are of particular importance to improve the preclinical validation of novel drug candidates. M. tuberculosis-infected interleukin-13-overexpressing (IL-13(tg)) mice develop a TB pathology very similar to patients and, in contrast to other mouse models, also share pathogenetic mechanisms. Accordingly, IL-13(tg) animals represent an ideal model for analyzing the penetration of novel anti-TB drugs into various compartments of necrotic granulomas by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MS imaging). In the present study, we evaluated the suitability of BALB/c IL-13(tg) mice for determining the antibiotic distribution within necrotizing lesions. To this end, we established a workflow based on the inactivation of M. tuberculosis by gamma irradiation while preserving lung tissue integrity and drug distribution, which is essential for correlating drug penetration with lesion pathology. MALDI-MS imaging analysis of clofazimine, pyrazinamide, and rifampicin revealed a drug-specific distribution within different lesion types, including cellular granulomas, developing in BALB/c wild-type mice, and necrotic granulomas in BALB/c IL-13(tg) animals, emphasizing the necessity of preclinical models reflecting human pathology. Most importantly, our study demonstrates that BALB/c IL-13(tg) mice recapitulate the penetration of antibiotics into human lesions. Therefore, our workflow in combination with the IL-13(tg) mouse model provides an improved and accelerated evaluation of novel anti-TB drugs and new regimens in the preclinical stage.