HIV vs. the Immune System: A Differential Game

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 ther...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMathematics (Basel) Vol. 3; no. 4; pp. 1139 - 1170
Main Authors Buratto, Alessandra, Cesaretto, Rudy, Zamarchi, Rita
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published MDPI AG 01.12.2015
Subjects
acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
differential games
human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
mathematical modeling
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Summary: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.
ISSN:2227-7390
2227-7390
DOI:10.3390/math3041139