Indicator or biomarker
Viable pathogen burden
The quantity of living pathogens recovered from a tissue or system
Hypotheses on this target 1
Telling states apart
Direct measurement1
Indicator replacement
Direct measurement1
Restraining immune recruitment only appears to clear pathogens because blood flow moves them
Where this hypothesis actsUpstream tissue, effluent and downstream compartments during recruitment restraint
What is proposedMeasure total viable burden to distinguish pathogen killing from redistribution
With whatInstrument or assay
HowUse closed, fully sampled perfusion with serial effluent collection, downstream capture, terminal organism recovery and independent killing measurements
Possible resultExpected loss of the local clearance advantage when viable organisms across all compartments are counted
2026-09-21