Periodic multidrug therapy in a within-host virus model.

Area of Science:

• Mathematical Biology
• Virology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Understanding viral dynamics within a host is crucial for developing effective treatments.
• Periodic drug administration is a common strategy for managing viral infections.
• The interplay between drug efficacy timing and infection stability requires detailed analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze a classical within-host virus model under periodic drug treatment using Floquet theory.
• To investigate the impact of single and multidrug strategies, specifically RT-inhibitors and P-inhibitors, on infection dynamics.
• To determine how the phase of periodic drug efficacy functions affects the stability of the infection-free steady state.

Main Methods:

• Application of Floquet theory and perturbation techniques to a within-host virus model.
• Analysis of both single-drug (RT-inhibitors, P-inhibitors) and multidrug treatment scenarios.
• Numerical simulations to illustrate theoretical findings and explore additional parameters.

Main Results:

• Periodic drug treatment can stabilize the infection-free steady state.
• The phase shift between periodic drug efficacies (RT-inhibitors and P-inhibitors) significantly influences the stability of the infection-free state.
• Multidrug strategies offer complex dynamics dependent on the timing of administration.

Conclusions:

• Optimizing the timing of periodic drug treatments is critical for eradicating viral infections.
• Phase adjustments in drug efficacy functions provide a tunable parameter for controlling viral load.
• This study provides a theoretical framework and numerical evidence for phase-dependent antiviral therapy.