Self-destruction Dynamics of HIV-1 Quasi-species Population in the Presence of Mutagenic Activities

The present study aims to establish fundamental theories for an alternative AIDS treatment for cART based on the use of multiple anti-HIV drugs. It is well known that HIV-1 is frequently-mutated. The alternative AIDS treatment is an approach to drive HIV-1 quasi-species population to self-destruction by inducing excess mutations to HIV-1 RNA(+) genome. Namely this therapy uses the HIV-1's error-prone character as an underhanded way. This study proposes a novel HIV-1 mathematical model considered viral kinetic processes such as infection, replication, mutation, and mutagenic activities to control HIV-1 mutation rate. The model also considers four HIV-1 phenotypes: fast and slow in replication rate and viable and defective in infectious ability. Numerical simulations of the model show that enhancement of HIV-1 mutation rate causes an error catastrophe to HIV-1 quasi-species population. Furthermore, analyses of local asymptotic stability of the self-destruction state reveal that the alternative AIDS treatment has effectiveness in certain specific viral conditions