Leishmaniasis: strategies for control based on mathematical models of the immune response.

Abstract

This review gives an overview of the mathematical models of the immune response to leishmaniasis. Mathematical modelling is based on the choice of key variables and interactions between them, which are quantified as parameters. Choice of variables is based on biological knowledge, parameter values are derived by fitting to the experimental data. Ordinary differential equation models describe model dynamics - changes in the populations of cells and other body agents. Biological knowledge is needed to set up the model, knowing influences and interactions among body cells. Immune response models target on the prediction of disease progression and identification of the most sensitive parameters, which are assumed to be feasible targets for therapy. All the mathematical models of the biological systems represent a simplification of reality and thus may yield wrong results. However, they offer a fast and systematic search for optimal strategies that would possibly be neglected by experimentally based research. If mathematical models are applied to obtain ideas for new directions in experimental work, they offer a promising tool in pharmaceutical research.