Global solvability of a model for tuberculosis granuloma formation

• Published in: Nonlinear analysis: real world applications Vol. 85; p. 104369
• Main Authors: Fuest, Mario, Lankeit, Johannes, Mizukami, Masaaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2025
• Subjects: Chemotaxis–consumption; Global existence; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis; 35A01; 35D30; Chemotaxis–consumption; Global existence; 92C17; 35K55; 35A09; 35Q92; 92C50
• ISSN: 1468-1218
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nonrwa.2025.104369

We discuss a nonlinear system of partial differential equations modelling the formation of granuloma during tuberculosis infections and prove the global solvability of the homogeneous Neumann problem for ut=DuΔu−χu∇⋅(u∇v)−γuuv−δuu+βu,vt=DvΔv+ρvv−γvuv+μvw,wt=DwΔw+γwuv−αwwz−μww,zt=DzΔz−χz∇⋅(z∇w)+αzf(w)z−δzzin bounded domains in the classical and weak sense in the two- and three-dimensional setting, respectively. In order to derive suitable a priori estimates, we study the evolution of the well-known energy functional for the chemotaxis–consumption system both for the (u,v)- and the (z,w)-subsystem. A key challenge compared to “pure” consumption systems consists of overcoming the difficulties raised by the additional, in part positive, terms in the second and third equations. This is inter alia achieved by utilizing a dissipative term of the (quasi-)energy functional, which may just be discarded in simpler consumption systems.