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Modelling the suppression of autoimmunity after pathogen infection
Author(s) -
Oliveira Bruno M. P. M.,
Trinchet Ricard,
Otero Espinar María Victoria,
Pinto Alberto,
Burroughs Nigel
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
mathematical methods in the applied sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1099-1476
pISSN - 0170-4214
DOI - 10.1002/mma.4899
Subject(s) - autoimmunity , pathogen , immune system , immunology , secretion , population , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , endocrinology , environmental health
We study a mathematical model of immune response by T cells where the regulatory T cells (Treg) inhibit interleukin 2 (IL‐2) secretion. We model the suppression of the autoimmune line of T cells after a different line of T cells responded to a pathogen infection. In this paper, we show that if the population of the pathogen responding line of T cells becomes large enough, the competition for IL‐2 and the increase in the death rates may lead to a depletion in the concentration of autoimmune T cells. Provided this lasts for a sufficiently long time, the concentration of autoimmune T cells can be brought down to values inside the basin of attraction of the controlled state, and autoimmunity can be suppressed.