Utilizing alternate target cells in treating HIV infection through scheduled treatment

The dynamics of the human immune response to infection are nonlinear and complex, and analysis of these models can yield surprising, counterintuitive insights. In this paper, we explore one such insight concerning the treatment of HTV infection. In a previous paper, we introduced a model predictive control (MPC) based method of determining treatment schedules that would induce a transition to a state in which the patient´s immune system controlled the viral infection without the need for further treatment. We show how introducing additional, non HIV-specific target cells (cells which act as hosts for the HIV virus) can yield faster convergence with less transient damage to the patient´s immune system.