Table 1.

Models for studying Mtb infection and the granulomatous response.

Model	Advantages	Drawbacks
Monkey	Granuloma similar to humans.	Difficult to handle.
		Expensive.
Guinea pigs/rabbits	Granuloma similar to humans.	Restricted availability of reagents.
	Easy to handle.	Genetic manipulation difficult.
Mice	Easy to handle.	Granulomas often differ in many ways from
	Model of choice for genetic studies.	human granulomas (e.g., cellular composition and progression to necrosis).
Zebrafish embryo	Easy to handle.	M. marinum rather than M. tuberculosis infection.
	Good for real-time experiments and live imaging (the larvae are transparent).
	Good for studies of the initial steps of granuloma formation and the role of innate immunity.	No lymphocytes present in the embryo.
In v it ro granuloma formation from human PBMCs	Mimics the physiological granuloma.	Some important elements present in the lung compartment but not in PBMCs may be lacking.
	Possible to study the early steps of granuloma formation.
	Flexible (e.g., use of various strains of bacteria, easy addition of cells, cytokines, drugs).
In s il ic o modelling of granuloma formation	Not expensive.	Highly dependent on the initial parameter settings and cannot take previously unknown information into account.
	Study of the early steps of granuloma formation possible.
	Flexible.