Immune Response to a Variable Pathogen: A Stochastic Model with Two Interlocked Darwinian Entities. (2nd December 2012)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kuhn, Christoph
• Other Names: Agur Zvia Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: Computational and mathematical methods in medicine. Volume 2012(2012)
• Publication Date: 2012-12-02
• Subjects: Medicine -- Computer simulation -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Mathematical models -- Periodicals; 610.11
• DOI: 10.1155/2012/784512
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1748-670X

Abstract

Abstract : This paper presents the modeling of a host immune system, more precisely the immune effector cell and immune memory cell population, and its interaction with an invading pathogen population. It will tackle two issues of interest; on the one hand, in defining a stochastic model accounting for the inherent nature of organisms in population dynamics, namely multiplication with mutation and selection; on the other hand, in providing a description of pathogens that may vary their antigens through mutations during infection of the host. Unlike most of the literature, which models the dynamics with first-order differential equations, this paper proposes a Galton-Watson type branching process to describe stochastically by whole distributions the population dynamics of pathogens and immune cells. In the first model case, the pathogen of a given type is either eradicated or shows oscillatory chronic response. In the second model case, the pathogen shows variational behavior changing its antigen resulting in a prolonged immune reaction.