

Preprint 14/2011
Predicting the probability of persistence of HIV infection with the standard model
Henry Tuckwell and Patrick Shipman
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Submission date: 18. Apr. 2011 (revised version: September 2011)
Pages: 24
published in: Journal of biological systems, 19 (2011) 4, p. 747-762
DOI number (of the published article): 10.1142/S0218339011004147
Bibtex
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Abstract:
We consider the standard three-component differential equation model for the growth of an HIV virion population in an infected host in the absence of drug therapy. The dynamical properties of the model are determined by the set of values of six parameters which vary across host populations. There may be one or two critical points whose natures play a key role in determining the outcome of infection and in particular whether the HIV population will persist or become extinct. There are two cases which may arise. In the first case, there is only one critical point P1 at biological values and this is an asymptotically stable node. The system ends up with zero virions and so the host becomes HIV-free. In the second case, there are two critical points P1 and P2 at biological values. Here P1 is an unstable saddle point and P2 is an asymptotically stable spiral point with a non-zero virion level. In this case the HIV population persists unless parameters change. We let the parameter values take random values from distributions based on empirical data, but suitably truncated, and determine the probabilities of occurrence of the various combinations of critical points. From these simulations the probability that an HIV infection will persist, across a population, is estimated. It is found that with conservatively estimated distributions of parameters, within the framework of the standard 3-component model, the chances that a within host HIV population will become extinct is between 0.6% and 6.9%. With less conservative parameter estimates, the probability is estimated to be as high as 24%. The many factors related to the transmission and possible spontaneous elimination of the virus are discussed.