Maintenance of the latent reservoir by pyroptosis and superinfection in a fractional order HIV transmission model

Abstract

We focus on the importance of pyroptosis and superinfection on the maintenance of thehuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) latent reservoir on infected patients. The latent reservoir hasbeen found to be crucial to the persistence of low levels of viral loads found in HIV-infected patients,after many years of successfully suppressive anti-retroviral therapy (ART). This reservoir seems to actas an archive for strains of HIV no longer dominant in the blood, such as wild-type virus. When apatient decides to quit therapy there is a rapid turnover and the wild-type virus re-emerges. Thus, itis extremely important to understand the mechanisms behind the maintenance of this reservoir. Forthat, we propose a fractional order model for the dynamics of HIV, where pyroptosis and superinfectionare considered. The model is simulated for biological meaningful parameters and interesting patternsare found. Our results are interpreted for clinical appreciation.