title: Target cell limited and immune control models of HIV infection: a comparison.
abstract: We develop various mathematical models of the clinical latency stage of HIV-1 infection assuming that HIV-1 infection is limited either by the availability of cells that HIV can infect or by a specific anti-HIV cellular immune response. The former models we call "target-cell-limited". Comparing the models by phase plane analysis we find that they all belong to the class of predator-prey models. In the target-cell limited models the virus is a predator feeding upon target cell prey, while in the immune-control models the virus is a prey that is controlled by an immune response predator. Because both classes of models are of predator-prey type they behave similarly in most circumstances. We find that both types of model can account for the generic picture of disease progression in which the CD4 T cell count slowly decreases and the viral load slowly increases. Additionally, we find that both types of models can adequately describe the clinically observed changes in the plasma HIV-1 RNA loads in response to retroviral therapies.
authors.affiliation: Theoretical Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, CH Utrecht, 3584, The Netherlands. rdb@alive.biol.ruu.nl
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: De Boer
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Perelson
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D018448:Models, Immunological; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology; D017735:Virus Latency
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents