Model-based analysis of CD4+ lymphocyte dynamics in HIV-infected individuals. II. Evaluation of the model based on...

The recently developed mathematical model of CD4+ lymphocyte depletion in HIV-infected individuals is evaluated using a comparison with available clinical data. The data used for such an evaluation are to be extrapolated from the published clinical observations as these data sets are not homogeneous covering only parts of HIV infection duration. An additional complication is due to the uncertainty of exact infection onset. Based on these considerations, several different reference data sets are generated from the available clinical data and the range of applicability of the mathematical model and its modifications is then investigated. As a result of such quantitative confrontation, it can be concluded that the appropriate setting of cell interaction parameters in the model can result in a fairly good coincidence of the simulated HIV infection dynamics with reference data sets. Perspectives and limitations of such an approach are also discussed.