Modeling Hepatitis Delta Virus Viral Dynamics with and Without Antiviral Therapy

• Activity Number: 480
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 4, 2010 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Biometrics Section
• Author(s): Bruno C. De Sousa*+ and Celso Cunha
• Companies: Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• Keywords: Differential Equations ; HDV ; Antiviral Therapies ; Super-infection ; Co-infection

Abstract

In this work a model is proposed for the viral dynamics of the hepatitis delta virus (HDV) across different scenarios. This model takes into consideration the knowledge of the biology of the virus and its interaction with the host. There are two ways in which HDV can occur in an individual: co-infection and super-infection. A simulation study was performed where these two scenarios were studied with and without different antiviral therapies. The results show that the combination of lamivudine and interferon-alpha (LMV/IFN) therapy seems to be more effective in reducing the number of infected cells and viral load of both viruses. LMV alone reduces the HBV viral load faster when compared with HDV, and IFN monotherapy has a significant effect in reducing solely the HDV viral load. In all tested scenarios a rebound of infection could be observed after the end of therapy.