A Mathematical Model for Early HBV and -HDV Kinetics during Anti-HDV Treatment

Rami Zakh,Alexander Churkin,Menachem Lachiany,Danny Barash,Alexander Ploss,Scott J Cotler,Harel Dahari,William Bietsch

doi:10.3390/math9243323

Abstract

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is an infectious subviral agent that can only propagate in people infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). HDV/HBV infection is considered to be the most severe form of chronic viral hepatitis. In this contribution, a mathematical model for the interplay between HDV and HBV under anti-HDV treatment is presented. Previous models were not designed to account for the observation that HBV rises when HDV declines with HDV-specific therapy. In the simple model presented here, HDV and HBV kinetics are coupled, giving rise to an improved viral kinetic model that simulates the early interplay of HDV and HBV during anti-HDV therapy.

Highlights

~15–72 million people are currently infected with the hepatitis delta virus (HDV) [1,2]
A new model is presented for hepatitis B virus (HBV)-HDV interaction, which captures the kinetics seen during anti-HDV treatment with LNF
These observations are in agreement with data showing that the HBV viral load is suppressed by the presence of HDV [22]

Summary

Introduction

~15–72 million people are currently infected with the hepatitis delta virus (HDV) [1,2]. HDV causes an accelerated course of liver disease compared to HBV alone [1] and is the most severe form of chronic viral hepatitis in humans [5,6,7]. A mathematical model for HDV kinetics during antiviral treatment was described in [10,11] without considering HBV dynamics. Mathematical models were developed that account for both HDV and HBV [12,13]. These mathematical models for HBV-HDV dynamics aimed to theoretically simulate acute infection or antiviral treatment conditions of the Creative Commons.

Methods

Results

Conclusion