Monkey models of tuberculosis: lessons learned.

The use of animal models has been invaluable for studying the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, as well as for testing the efficacy of vaccines and drug regimens for tuberculosis. Among the applied animal models, nonhuman primates, particularly macaques, share the greatest anatomical and physiological similarities with humans. As such, macaque models have been used for investigating tuberculosis pathogenesis and preclinical testing of drugs and vaccines. This review focuses on published major studies which illustrate how the rhesus and cynomolgus macaques have enriched and may continue to advance the field of global tuberculosis research.