Assessing Acinetobacter baumannii Virulence and Persistence in a Murine Model of Lung Infection.

Acinetobacter baumannii is a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen and a leading cause of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Murine models of A. baumannii lung infection allow researchers to experimentally assess A. baumannii virulence and host response. Intranasal administration of A. baumannii models acute lung infection. This chapter describes the methods to test A. baumannii virulence in a murine model of lung infection, including assessing the competitive index of a bacterial mutant and the associated inflammatory responses.