Comparison of <i>Galleria mellonella</i> , Epithelial Cell Cytotoxicity, and Mouse Model of Bacteremia to Measure <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> Virulence

We found that virulence measurements in a <i>G. mellonella</i> infection model showed a semistrong correlation with those from a mouse bacteremia model and that this insect larval model adequately detected population-level trends similarly to mice. In contrast, A549 epithelial-like cell lysis during bacterial co-culture correlated less well with mouse virulence. Together, these results support the use of <i>G. mellonella</i> as a scalable, low-cost, and humane first-line model for assessing <i>P. aeruginosa</i> virulence but also indicate that conclusions should be validated in mice.