A mathematical study on the effects of a combination of an immune checkpoint inhibitor and a mutagen for anti-HIV-1 therapy

Abstract

This study mathematically and computationally analyzes the effects of a combination of a chemical mutagen and an immune checkpoint inhibitor to develop an alternative anti-retroviral therapy. First, we addressed how the condition for HIV cure depends the efficacy of these two agents. We concluded that HIV cure only depends on the efficacy of the chemical mutagen, not on the immune checkpoint inhibitor. In other words, the combinatorial use of the two agents did not affect the necessary condition for the HIV “cured state”. On the other hand, we confirmed the effectiveness of the combinatorial treatment with the two agents on the eradication of productively infected cells. Computer simulations clarified that combination treatment with the two agents enables eradication of productively infected cells faster than does treatment with the mutagen alone.