HIV vs. the Immune System: A Differential Game

Alessandra Buratto, Rudy Cesaretto and Rita Zamarchi
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Alessandra Buratto: Department of Mathematics, University of Padova, Via Trieste 63, Padova 35121, Italy
Rudy Cesaretto: Department of Mathematics, University of Padova, Via Trieste 63, Padova 35121, Italy
Rita Zamarchi: IOV-IRCCS, Via Gattamelata 64, Padova 35128, Italy

Mathematics, 2015, vol. 3, issue 4, 1-32

Abstract: A differential game is formulated in order to model the interaction between the immune system and the HIV virus. One player is represented by the immune system of a patient subject to a therapeutic treatment and the other player is the HIV virus. The aim of our study is to determine the optimal therapy that allows to prevent viral replication inside the body, so as to reduce the damage caused to the immune system, and allow greater survival and quality of life. We propose a model that considers all the most common classes of antiretroviral drugs taking into account different immune cells dynamics. We validate the model with numerical simulations, and determine optimal structured treatment interruption (STI) schedules for medications.

Keywords: mathematical modeling; human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV); acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS); differential games (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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